A forefather of UK hip-hop, Rodney Smith (better known as Roots Manuva) was inspired by his Jamaican parents's Pentecostal religion and impoverished Stockwell roots. His late-‘90s releases on envelope-pushing Ninja Tune imprint Big Dada-melded dub, ragga and trip-hop, a feat of genre alchemy that would alter the landscape of British rap for years to come. Expect heavy bass, deep introspection and sparse, foreboding London cityscapes rendered in bleak charcoal—plus a calm, chameleonic flow that pours itself into hard-to-reach corners.