King Cannibal (b. Dylan Richards, aka Zilla), is a London, UK breakbeat / breakstep / dancehall / drum and bass / dubstep artist. He signed to Ninja Tune in 2008, following projects on Combat Recordings, Kriss & Rag & Bone Records - which crafted his ferocious take on dancehall & filthy bass-driven beats. It all began with a series of super-evolved mixes towards the latter end of the nineties as a reaction to the glut of uninspiring mix compilations that had began to flood the industry. ...show more

King Cannibal (b. Dylan Richards, aka Zilla), is a London, UK breakbeat / breakstep / dancehall / drum and bass / dubstep artist. He signed to Ninja Tune in 2008, following projects on Combat Recordings, Kriss & Rag & Bone Records - which crafted his ferocious take on dancehall & filthy bass-driven beats. It all began with a series of super-evolved mixes towards the latter end of the nineties as a reaction to the glut of uninspiring mix compilations that had began to flood the industry.

The first salvo against conformity was A Friendly Game of Chess , a self-funded, hand-sprayed, highly under-the-counter mix project with Lex Records DJ and friend Buddy Peace. The highly stylised conceptual expression of work that combined a rich fusion of textures together with strong themes and motifs began to ignite more than their own imaginations, selling out in just 48 hours and earning high praise on a global scale. A Friendly Game Of Chess was swiftly followed by solo mixtape strike One Foot In The Fire, One Fist In The Air which earned numerous comparisions to Coldcuts 70 Minutes Of Madness'. Comprised of almost 100 tracks from Autechre to Britney Spears, interviews and spoken word interludes, the CD sold-out in a day, attracted attention from all corners and ended up in many a Best of 2004 list.

Among those with their ears to the ground were Trash supremo Erol Alkan, notorious London promoters Wheels Instead of Hooves and the heads of both Ninja Tune and Warp Records. After 2 appearances on the legendary Solid Steel radio show, the honour of being the first unsigned act to play at Strictly Kev & D.Ks Solid Steel clubnight, 4 sets with Buddy Peace at Dedbeat 04 in the course of one weekend and a number of European dates, Warp Records stepped in and invited Buddy Peace & Zilla to compile a retrospective of the label. Released late September 2004 as part of the 'WARP VISION The Videos' DVD, the mix entitled 'Watch And Repeat Play' was a startlingly original tour de force, over 70 minutes the two DJs re-worked and re-wired the label's back catalogue, twisting the already twisted into sonic maelstrom. The Warp Vision Audio Visual / Resfest Tour followed, with appearances alongside artists such as Plaid, Chris Cunningham, Seiji, Mike Paradinas and Funkstorung and invitations to play at the Glade Festival, Trash, The Warp Summer Ball and The Poke Xmas Rave. ...show less