Roska stands at the forefront of the strand of British rave music typically referred to as, “Funky”. Years of long days and nights beyond the eye of the raver, have pushed him toward perceived overnight success on the dancefloor, his records are played by DJs including Skream, Benga, Kode9, Joker and Diplo. However, Roska’s meteoric rise is owed to his unerring passion and work-rate, with some notable milestones along the way. In April 2009 Roska was offered a coveted residency on Britains leading underground music station Rinse FM after impressing Geeneus with a number cover shows at the tail end of 2008. This became a huge catalyst for Roska’s career as his audience, which was previously drip-fed riddims at dances and via blogsites, were now being exposed to two hour slots showcasing his production and DJ techniques. As is the beauty of radio, he was able to road-test production which may not have seen the light of the DJ booth. Word spread around the campfire; Roska has riddims. Must have riddims. And he has em in mamouth supply. 2010 and Ink barely dry on his recording contract with Rinse Recordings (Katy B /P Money / Jamie George), Mary Anne Hobbs would announce Roska in her select lineup for the BBC1 Radio 1 stage at Sonár festival; the same stage which announced Skream, Kode9 and Joker to an international audience. Roska brought with him Jamie George, the voice behind 2009’s ubiquitous ‘Wonderful Day’ and the pair had 8,500 festival goers jacking into twilight hours. Remixes to his name including those for Zed Bias, Four Tet and Martyn. A host of major UK and european dates including Glastonbury, Lowlands Festival, Global Gathering, FWD>> + Rinse, Bloc (which Wire magazine called their “highlight of the festival”) and a N. America tour all added more pressure the momentum building behind Roska throughout 2010. Add to that an incendiary Essential Mix for BBC Radio 1, and entry into Playground magazines top 50 tunes of the year with ‘Love 2 Nite’ and 2011 opens its curtains with Roska at boiling point.
