30 years in the game. That’s one hell of a milestone, and we couldn’t be more excited to chat with the figurehead herself, Mari Stott, about the legendary label we all know as Ruffneck Ting. Having created one of the most trailblazing jungle imprints of our time, it’s fair to say Dazee has been locked in on levels of dedication others can only aspire to.
From the very beginning, Ruffneck Ting has championed art, culture, and uncompromising quality. The Bristol-based label has forged a distinctive path, shaping artists and sounds while curating a vibe so raw and authentic that it remains unmatched. Its dedication to community and culture has nurtured countless talents, setting a standard that continues to inspire the jungle scene today.
Come along as we dive into the world of Ruffneck Ting and chat with music production lecturer and Bristol legend Dazee about her amazing journey so far.
Looks like you’ve had a full plate lately, how’s 2025 been treating you so far?
It’s been a journey! I’ve had some really great moments I’m grateful for – when we first talked, I was on my way to Croatia for Hospitality on the Beach – that was definitely a highlight; just a beautiful setting with amazing people and music.
There have been a few epic events – loads of things in Bristol (I’m lucky to be living in the D&B centre of the universe!). But if truth be told, 2025 has been a tough year. It’s been hard to stay focused when the world seems to be going insane and the cost of living is causing all aspects of the industry (and all industries) to suffer.
On top of that, I’ve had my own demons to battle with, and there have been moments when I’ve felt like walking away from something I’ve given 32 years of my life to… But don’t worry, I’m sticking around! Ruffneck Ting isn’t just about me, so I owe it to the crew, if not to myself, to take the label to the next level.
I’ll be full with music and RNT shows over the next few months, and the biggest thing we have planned is the 30 Years of Ruffneck Ting Records album that’s now two years in the making.
Who will we see on the 30 Years of RNT album?
So we’ve been drip-feeding samplers, starting with Euphonique, the first single that she did with a female MC called Bam Bam. That was followed by The Happiness sampler by myself and Jenni Groves, then a four-tracker from The Force, and the most recent, Coastill featuring Kinetiks MC, with a remix from me. Sampler five is one from me again, with two more to follow from K Jah, Flat T, and JL-One before we drop the full album at the end of the year.
Although this whole project has taken much longer than it was meant to, I think the sound that we make seems to be getting popular again. I’m noticing a lot of the people who used to make really heavy jump-up are bringing it back a little bit and getting a bit more rollerish.
Perfect timing with the rollers, how exciting!
It’s funny because our sound has never really waivered and I love it when some of our DJs mix up our vintage tracks as well as our new releases and give it a new lease of life.
Even after 30 years, RNT continues to grow, how do you manage it all as the head of everything?
That’s a very good question. I’m still learning to delegate! What is really great is that the next generation are coming through and they are bringing fresh ideas and enthusiasm. One of my students (at the uni I teach at) stepped up to intern for the label and has done an amazing job on our socials, especially TikTok. It’s a very heart-warming coincidence that his best friend is actually the son of two members of our original Ruffneck Ting crew. They are so respectful of Ruffneck Ting’s roots – as previously mentioned, mixing RNT classics (even I’d forgotten about) and posting footage either from back in the day or from recent things we’ve done in a really lovely, authentic way. So yes, gotta big up 2sayer and Human Resources!
So, yeah, I’m never really doing it single-handedly. Jinx and K Jah have always been massively helpful, not just with their music but also helping out and motivating me when I needed it. Jenni Groves is a fierce Ruffneck Ting ambassador – probably the reason I’ve held in when times have been tough. She double-drops Ruffneck classics like no other and is proud to rep the brand at every opportunity – she even had a Ruffneck Ting flag made for Croatia!
Speaking of the crew, we saw recently that you were in the studio with a couple of the gals?
Yeah, I just started a track with Chez and Euphonique. It’s a nice one, really vibey and personal to us in Bristol, lamenting the loss of Motion but with an uplifting, ravey vibe so it’s not depressing. The last thing we need is anything depressing!
Any other releases dropping soon?
I’ve got a lovely remix of Chez and Kravitz that I’m really happy with that’s coming out on Jungle Cakes. I hope to do quite a lot more things with Chez. She’s a singer and DJ and brilliant at both – very professional, very motivated.
As far as Ruffneck is concerned, I’ve got loads of stuff to put out from some really talented people – some newer talent like JL- One, as well as our OG’s. The A&R side for me is almost like I don’t have to do it. I sometimes think Ruffers does it himself – the little character – he’s taking care of all that. He’s like a magnet for music.
Other aspects of running the label – social media and the constant way you have to market music, the way it changes on a daily basis – it’s quite exhausting, and that’s a full-time job in itself that I have to squeeze into a few hours a week.
I love that Ruffers embodies everything Ruffneck Ting stands for. Can you tell me a bit more about him?
He was inspired by a certain cartoon character. I won’t mention any names, but we decided that he was his cousin, and he’s a really cheeky, naughty little character. He’s a lovable rogue, do you know what I mean? When you’ve got a mascot, it’s much easier – people kind of want to belong. People have something to associate with. There was a time when I felt like everyone loved my imaginary dog more than me. Well, actually, I still believe that.
The creative energy has been consistent, can you tell us a bit about your designer, Steve Wright?
So Steve is up there with Ruffers as one of the reasons people love to release on Ruffneck Ting. He started making all the producers on the label have their own characters. I’ve kind of given him free rein on it, because he gets really excited about creating new characters, and you can see in that comic book his imagination can go off on all sorts of tangents. Sometimes, I have to rein him in a little bit and say, “that person might not want to be a giant pink blob” (everyone really wants to be a superhero). He’s a fantastic artist, actually does quite a lot of artwork for different labels, but keeps it unique to each one.
With the 30 Years series, we’ve moved away from the colourful stuff we had in the Xtraordinary League releases. Now it’s this newsprint style – we’re just going through a couple of colours and a light background to give it a nice vintage look, and I’m really liking that. I think it’s really important to us to have all the music represented by really significant artwork. We’re not just a production line; we’re not churning out music. Everything has a concept and has to gel with the artwork. If the artwork isn’t right, the music isn’t right. Sometimes the artwork is done before the music, and we have to match the music to the artwork!
It becomes an organic thing, and it happens when it happens, which is totally the opposite of how you’re told you should be putting out music at the moment. But no, it’s something we do. Maybe if I were a bit more business-minded rather than creative, I wouldn’t be doing it like that. But I have to stay true to what I believe in, I guess. It makes the artists really happy to see their music out, represented by this gorgeous artwork, and to know they’ve got a character.
We have some plans for some really out-there, completely different ideas of collectibles that can go with the new album. Obviously, we’ve done the comic and CD, so we’re not doing that again, but we’re doing something else quite exciting. I’m not saying what it is!!
It’s a BIG project!
All the people that maybe missed the previous EPs, or hadn’t heard them before we put it out, will be able to buy the whole lot as an album. There’ll be different versions, extra tunes from other artists, remixes – things like that. It won’t just be a complete reproduction of the EPs from before; there’ll be extra stuff, all packaged in a really exciting way. In terms of the style, there will be a lot of bouncy rollers (obviously), a couple of vocal tracks, and mellower vibes too. It will have that sample-based organic sound we’re known for, and big basslines throughout!
Tell us more about the new merch and the creative direction behind the artwork!
Yes, we’ve just got a really cool company, Dancefloor Emporium, who’ve taken on our merch. We’ve got a street-artist collab with Dibz (who works a lot with Goldie) he has done our “Wildstyle” logo. There’s loads of variation of the current logo, and because there are so many girls in our crew, there will always be really sick feminine styles too, rather than just unisex clothing.
Having options for the ladies is so refreshing…
Yes, we’ve got football tops and basketball vests as well, which are really nice for everyone. It’s really great when you branch out and work with other people, because you discover things you’d never thought of doing. When it comes to merch, you’ve got to cater for a lot of different tastes, so it’s great to get input from different people.
We’re loving your collab with Coastill from the album sampler — how did that connection come about?
He approached me back in 2016 or 2017. He sent me some tunes, and I loved them, so we arranged a release. That was his first release, Casino. It’s a really cool release.
The Rude EP with Kinetiks MC was in the making for quite a long time, and for various reasons we had to keep pulling it back. But when we did release it, the timing was absolutely perfect. It was great.
I feel if there’s any resistance in anything, you just have to listen to it, because it’s not meant to be. When the time is right, it’s right. That’s what I’m finding — that’s what I go with now.
It was so great working with both Coastill and Kinetiks. We were working across three different cities. They were fantastic. They were so great on the promotion and fully involved. Coastill did this great animation to support the Weaponry track, and we did a live stream where we broadcast from Bristol, while they streamed from DC and New Orleans, respectively.
Can you tell us more about your long-running connection with The Force?
The first time I met him, he was a resident at RUN, when it first started in the mid to early 2000s in a little club called Native in Bristol. He was putting music out on the D Style label, and I’d see him down there. Then, fast forward a decade, and I’d started working with Jinx, who lives in the same town near Birmingham, and Jay was reintroduced that way.
Jinx brought a lot of people on board, including the designer and other artists. He brought Bou to do some remixes, and Saxxon really strengthened the roster. I think K Jah and Vytol were also brought through the Jinx connection. I have a lot to thank him for! But yeah, The Force is a really talented producer and has consistently provided us with bangers!
What are you listening to outside of drum and bass?
Sounds of the Caribbean with Selecta Jerry – it’s my mental health calibration. I just listen to his podcasts. I don’t know if you’re familiar with him; I think he’s from Brooklyn. And it’s just… yeah, he plays reggae, ragga, dub, and it sounds like sunshine whenever he’s doing his shows. There’s so much DnB in my inbox sometimes, I have to give my ears a break, but I guess this music is where part of the heart and soul of jungle came from.
Yeah, yeah, exactly. It’s like there’s so much. There’s not enough time in the day to listen to all the music that is out there.
Yeah, it’s crazy. It’s a blessing and a curse. So sometimes I actually do feel anxiety kicking in when I haven’t checked promos for a few days and seem to have hundreds to feedback on. I have to have words with myself … I’m like, “What are you being anxious about? You should be excited and grateful, these are people giving you music!”
I have to turn my mindset around a little bit, but sometimes it can be quite scary because there is so much music out there. You know what I mean?
Can you offer any advice to anyone looking to get their music heard?
I would say the obvious thing is to send it to the people with influence that you know are likely to respond to your kind of music. Networking and making yourself known in a positive way to influential platforms or people is also helpful. Or, these days, just the right social media post could launch your career!
What are your thoughts of the use of AI in music production? Have you received any demos you could spot using AI?
As of yet I haven’t been fooled, but if I received a track I thought was absolutely banging and it turned out to be made by AI, I’m not sure I’d care. But at the moment, you can spot it. The human element is lacking; the hairs-on-the-back-of-the-neck feeling won’t be there.
I think there are a few tools that are fantastic, like stem splitters. Maybe if you’re starting out, you could dissect one of your favourite tracks, listen to what they’re doing with their drums and bass, how they’re phrasing things, and so on. Use it as a learning tool. Yeah, but I don’t think it’ll ever replace a good tune hitting you in a really human and soulful way, and there are layers to that. But if AI comes up with a tune that makes the hairs on the back of my neck stand up, then maybe it has got there.
