Biga*Ranx

Born in Tours in September 1988, Gabriel Piotrowski performs as Biga Ranx, and his ragga hip hop reaches back to Jamaica as readily as to New York. Reggae figures such as Super Cat, Alton Ellis and Vybz Kartel shaped his early listening, alongside American rap, and that double inheritance runs through his work. Signed to X-Ray Production, an independent Paris label, he has built much of his output around collaboration, with producers and collectives rather than a single fixed group.

His path began in 2004, when he formed the Bandalero Sound System with DJ Atili, and he later worked with the Austrian DJ Governor General Rugged on the Mus Bus Collective. In 2008 the Jamaican singjay Joseph Cotton gave him the name Ranx. His debut On Time came out in October 2011 and was voted the best Ragga/Dancehall album in France by Reggae.fr. The World of Biga*Ranx followed in 2012 as four 12-inch records, each made with a different producer, and Good Morning Midnight arrived in April 2013. He performed at La Cigale in Paris that May, and in 2014 he featured on Calle 13's album Multi Viral with Perseguido.