NinJaTune - Ninja Music Records

Founded in London in 1990 by Matt Black and Jonathan More, known as Coldcut, Ninja Tune has become one of the worlds leading independent record labels, etched its story into the annals of British music. Today, Ninja Tune is a truly global music institution, with a diverse and uncompromising catalogue of releases and artists that are equally visionary, committed to pushing the boundaries of music, from groundbreaking to Grammy-winning.

In recent years, the label has celebrated many major events, including multiple prestigious Grammy nominations for Bonobo, ODESZA, Jayda G and Brainfeeder (with whom Ninja Tune has a long-standing partnership to publish, promote and distribute his incredible and ever-expanding repertoire worldwide), Hiatus Kaiyote, Louis Cole and Thundercat (Thundercat also won a Grammy for Best Progressive R&B Album for his last album, It Is What It Is). The label has also released UK top five albums by Bicep (also nominated for a Brit Award), Bonobo and Black Country, New Road, and a recent top ten album by Young Fathers (whose album was also nominated for the Mercury Prize); relaunched its Big Dada imprint, run by Ninja Tunes Black, POC and ethnic minority staff; and formed a partnership with multi-platinum-selling ODESZAs Foreign Family Collective (FFC) to publish, promote and distribute its extensive catalogue globally. Ninja Tune has also committed to supporting the entire music industry to become carbon neutral by 2026.

In the 30+ years since its founding, Ninja Tune has become a home for forward-thinking music and artists at the forefront of their fields, releasing notable releases from artists such as: Bonobo; The Cinematic Orchestra; Roots Manuva; Kelis; Jayda G; Young Fathers; Bicep; Floating Points; Black Country, New Road; Little Dragon; Sampa The Great; Run The Jewels; Diplo; Helena Hauff; Actress; Coldcut; Peggy Gou; Octo Octa; Julianna Barwick; yeule; Jordan Rakei; salute; Maribou State; ODESZA; Tycho; Forest Swords; Leon Vynehall; I.Jordan; Sofia Kourtesis; Barry Cant Swim; The Bug; Marye Davidson; TSHA; Machinedrum; Park Hye Jin; George Riley; Elkka & via Brainfeeder: Thundercat; Kamasi Washington; Hiatus Kaiyote; Georgia Anne Muldrow; Ross From Friends, Miguel Atwood-Ferguson, and many more. The relaunched Big Dada label has also released critically acclaimed work from the likes of Yaya Bey, GAIKA, H31R, LYZZA, and Brian Nasty.

The label remains 100% independent, consistently living up to expectations with critical and commercial acclaim – being named Independent Label of the Year at the 2018 Association of Independent Music (AIM) Awards, Label of the Year at the 2016 Gilles Peterson Global Awards, and most recently nominated for Label of the Year at the 2021 and 2023 A2IM Libera Awards. Nearly 20 albums on the chart reached the top 40 of the UK Official Albums Chart, including Biceps Isles at No. 2, Black Country at No. 3, New Roads Ants From Up There following their debut album For the first time at No. 4, Bonobos Migration, which was nominated for a Grammy, Young Fathers latest Heavy Heavy at No. 7, and ODESZAs A Moment Apart (also nominated for a Grammy) at No. 3 on the US Billboard Albums Chart. Other impressive results include Mercury Prize wins for Young Fathers album Dead (2014) and Speech Debelles Speech Therapy (2009), and Brit Award nominations for Bicep, Bonobo and Roots Manuva.

Coldcut rose to fame in 1987 when they released the Eric B and Rakim remix Paid In Full, bringing their underground sound into the mainstream. In 1990, Coldcut founded Ninja Tune as an independent outlet for their own work and like-minded left-wing artists. The labels early releases, all produced by Coldcut, consisted mainly of instrumental sample cuts, spawning a number of notable albums, including the first five volumes of DJ Foods Jazz Brakes. They subsequently received critical acclaim and became a notable pioneer in the instrumental hip-hop scene, which gradually coalesced over the following years. Launched around the same time, the groundbreaking Ninja Tune club nightclub Stealth was named Club of the Year by NME in 1996 and regularly hosted events featuring guests such as Squarepusher, James Lavelle and many of the labels artists.

Ninja Tune has also founded or collaborated with many other groundbreaking labels over the years, including Big Dada. Originally founded in 1997, the label was one of the UKs leading early hip-hop labels, helping launch the careers of homegrown legends Roots Manuva, Kae Tempest and Young Fathers, and launching US giants such as Diplo and Run The Jewels into wider global consciousness. In 2021, Big Dada relaunched as a label run by and for black, people of colour and minority artists by Ninja Tune staff, supporting new artists in the music field.