Terror Danjah, Prodigious Grime Producer, Has Died

Influential grime producer Rodney Pryce, better known as Terror Danjah, died yesterday, February 11, a label representative has confirmed. Beloved for his tactile beats and cartoonish, neon-lined flourishes, the East Londoner was a leading producer of his generation and a grime lynchpin, releasing on Hyperdub and Planet Mu and through his own label, Hardrive. No age or cause of death were immediately available.

Born in Forest Gate to Jamaican parents, Pryce got his break DJing jungle raves in the 1990s before turning his attention to music production. He joined N.A.S.T.Y. Crew—the vaunted grime collective featuring Kano and D Double E—before embarking on a prolific series of projects culminating in Hardrive, the landmark mixtape that gave his label its name. Between standalone releases on Hyperdub and Planet Mu, he lent productions tinged with the reggae and soul of his childhood to an increasingly diverse pool of artists, from Wiley to Kelela and IAMDDB; in 2014, he collaborated on a single with Four Tet. He is credited, alongside DaVinChe and Scratcha DVA, as a pioneer of R&G, the R’n’B/grime hybrid genre advanced on early tunes like Sadie Ama and Kano’s “So Sure.”

In 2019, when Pryce fell into a coma due to a stroke, artists across grime and electronic music paid tribute, with Hudson Mohawke and ScratchaDVA among those touting his influence. Pryce never made a full recovery, but after he emerged from the coma, he released two more records, Invasion and the EP Red Flag.

In tribute to the late producer, Hyperdub founder Kode 9 wrote on Instagram, “He was one of the most enthusiastic, energised people I’ve met, a constant flow of musical ideas, always rhythmically multi-tasking and making enthusiastic plans and sketches. I think you can hear that in his beats, always twisting and turning, wriggling around, setting little decoys, only to switch direction while leaving a little trap door open for you to fall through. He was a musical trickster, and his cheeky musical sense of humour was compressed into that gremlins cackle which was his instantly recognizable sonic logo. Even after his stroke a few years ago he retained that broad smile.”

Kevin Martin, a.k.a. the Bug, wrote on X that Terror Danjah was a “fantastic producer, big hearted person and criminally underrated outside of grime circles.” Big Zuu added that he was “a very kind soul who always had time for the mandem and just wanted to see us win,” a sentiment echoed by Mr. Mitch: “Anyone that met him could tell you about how infectious his spirit was.” HudMo again paid tribute to “one of [his] faves,” while Planet Mu called him, simply, “the best ever grime producer.”

Pryce’s family said in a statement, “Thank you for all your love and kind words for Rodney Pryce a.k.a. Terror Danjah. Our family ask that you remain respectful during this incredibly difficult time.”