Rufige Kru

Rufige Kru is drum'n'bass pioneer Goldie's collaborative outlet for his rawest, most club-centric material. The project's co-producers have varied over the years. Groundbreaking early EPs like 1992's Darkrider and Terminator featured Mark Rutherford and Linford Jones, and subsequent releases have featured input by Rob Playford, Danny Jay, Technical Itch, and others. As Goldie earned mainstream attention for his ambitious, multi-genre full-lengths during the '90s, he continued issuing more underground drum'n'bass singles as Rufige Kru on his Metalheadz label, such as 2001's "Beachdrifta." Rufige Kru made its full-length debut with 2007's Malice in Wonderland, followed by 2009's Memoirs of an Afterlife. Working with Submotive, Goldie released the third Rufige Kru full-length, Alpha Omega, in 2025. First active as a breakdancer and graffiti artist, Clifford Price made his recorded debut on a 1992 breakbeat hardcore record by Icelandic duo Ajax Project, contributing vocals to a track called "Ruffige." Working with Linford Jones (DJ Freebase), Price released the debut Rufige Kru single, "Krisp Biscuit," on Reinforced. Along with Mark Rutherford, the two created Terminator, officially released under the name Metal Heads, with cover art that would later become the logo for Price's label. One of the first and most significant darkside jungle records, it pioneered the technique of time-stretching. Darkrider and 1993's Ghosts (including a remix of "Terminator") continued to document hardcore's transformation into jungle and drum'n'bass. A few other Rufige Kru tracks appeared on acetates, and "Fury" was issued by Moving Shadow on a split single with Cloud 9 in 1994. Following the release of Goldie's widely lauded 1995 full-length debut, Timeless, the Rufige Kru single "T3" was issued through his Metalheadz imprint in 1996. Other Rufige Kru tracks and remixes sporadically appeared, and the more atmospheric "Beachdrifta" single surfaced in 2001. Malice in Wonderland, a full-length credited to Goldie Presents Rufige Kru, arrived in 2007, containing much more straightforward, dancefloor-friendly drum'n'bass tracks than Goldie's main albums. Non-album single "Shanghai Dub" and second Rufige Kru album Memoirs of an Afterlife both appeared in 2009, with dBridge, Alix Perez, Sabre, and Artificial Intelligence collaborating or contributing remixes. Reinforced additionally issued the digital compilation The Early Plates. Rufige Kru became active again during the 2020s, as Metalheadz celebrated its 25th anniversary with an ongoing series of releases that continued for more than two years. A remaster of "Krisp Biscuit" appeared in 2021, and the songs "No Angels" and "You Had to Be There," co-produced with James Davidson (Submotive), were released as a single in 2023. Rufige Kru and Doc Scott also released 25 Years of Metalheadz, Pt. 9, an EP of remixed and remastered tracks from the '90s. Goldie and Submotive co-produced the third Rufige Kru album, 2025's Alpha Omega, which included appearances by rapper CASISDEAD and Timeless contributor Cleveland Watkiss. ~ Paul Simpson, Rovi