Renegade Masters: Riya

Our new “Renegade Master” is Riya who has over 15 years of industry experience, 2 D&BArena ‘Best Vocalist’ awards, a solo album and over 11 million plays on Spotify alone! Riya – real name Laura Hill – is noted as:

“One of the most iconic female vocalists in the genre” – UKF

“A versatile siren who can switch from vulnerable to tough faster than you can rewind the drop. Believe the hype.” – Data Transmission

​Riya’s collaborators range from Skream, Roska, Dâm-Funk, Hybrid Minds, Break and Enei, to LSB, S.P.Y, Lenzman, dBridge, BCee, and DRS. Her discography spans across a vast spectrum of imprints including Toolroom Records, Metalheadz, Shogun Audio, Digital Soundboy, Innerground, Critical, and Spearhead Records – the label on which she released her critically acclaimed debut solo album ‘Sublimation’ in 2015.

Two years later, Riya released her followup solo EP ‘Hurt Heals’ on CIA Records, continuing her longstanding collaboration with Drum & Bass pioneers Total Science.

Riya has been featured by Mixmag, BBC Radio 1, 1Xtra and 6Music, Beats 1, UKF, Data Transmission, Resident Advisor, DJMag and D&BArena – featuring in their seminal 2020 documentary ‘Drum & Bass: The Movement’.

​Behind the booth, Riya has won plaudits from peers and ravers alike with her hard-hitting and energetic DJ sets. Her long-standing relationship with Native Instruments enabled her to become one of the first women to use their DJ controllers to perform live, allowing her to tour her album, exciting and amazing audiences with her ability to DJ stems whilst delighting crowds with her iconic voice, earning a D&BArena awards nomination for ‘Best Live Act’. 

​Skilled in Marketing and PR, Riya has worked behind the scenes for revered names including Royal Albert Hall, Hospital Records, Oasis of Sound, and DogsOnAcid. 

​Riya is also qualified in Sound Healing, Mental Health First Aid, and Counselling Skills and is a passionate and outspoken advocate for mental health, having previously volunteered at the mental health charity SANE for a year offering emotional support on their phone lines, holding fundraisers, and speaking openly and honestly about a range of issues across her social media accounts.

We are absolutely over the moon to add Riya to our growing Renegade Masters and feel she more than fits the bill! She is an absolute legend of the scene and has recorded a 70 minute mix for us all to get our weekends going. The mix has a stellar tracklist and includes a few unreleased bits and some really amazing records. Watch out for the shout outs running through the mix from some of the artists featured!

Check it out below, make sure you turn it up LOUD and dance it out wherever you are…go on…I dare you!!

Quick Fire Q&A

Sum up this mix in 10 words…

70 minutes of D&B energy mixed into some cooling serenity.  

What’s the special ingredient in this mix?

The vocal bits complimented by the bassline switch.

What’s your personal favourite track on it?

I love them all in their own way. Don’t make me choose! 

What’s the best gig you’ve played? 

Different ones for different reasons. Liquicity for the electric vibes and Hospitality. Let it Roll for sheer scale and theatre. Sun & Bass for the community, beach and vistas. The Womb club in Tokyo because…it’s TOKYO! I’m meant to play Hospitality in the Woods in September, I reckon that might be pretty special too!

What have you got coming up?

I’ve just found out that PRS Foundation is sponsoring myself and Collette Warren to write a very special project which is hugely exciting! We hope to get that out towards the end of the year. I’ve also written a solo EP due also out later this year and there’s plenty of singles, collaborations and hopefully, more live shows on the way.  I’ll announce all the news on my socials if you want to follow. My Instagram handle is @_riyality_ and Facebook: facebook.com/riyality.

And finally, do you have a special message for our readers?

Absolutely. Firstly, thanks for listening to my mix and all of the support over the years, you legends! I appreciate you. Second, please go listen, stream, and support Monrroe’s full EP when it drops on the 28th May. He’s such a talented producer and the EP is sick. He deserves all the success. Plus the EP features Ruth Royall who is an amazing vocalist in D&B and one I really admire for her incredible songwriting skills and voice. Big love to Monrroe, Ruth, the Shogun Family, and of course – to yourselves! 

Tracklist:

Paul T & Edward Oberon – ID 

Phaction – Obsession ft. Hugh Hardie & Riya  

Whiney – Guernsey Airport Bubbler ft. GQ 

The Sauce – Everything Boss ft. Fox 

Shodan – Broken (Molecular Remix)  

Villem & Hadley – Invisible ft. Riya & Collette Warren  

Ben Soundscape – Take it Down 

Nymfo – Bunny Hop 

Riya – ID 

Sweetpea – ID 

Collette Warren – Cold Black Soul ft. Legion & Logam  

R1C0 – Where I Wanna Be (Ill Truth Remix) (Dub) 

Walk:r – ID  

The Vanguard Project – Hoodwink 

Q Project – Trouble (Myth Remix)  

Phaction – The Fall ft. Riya  

Revan & Primitive Instinct – Back At It (Dub) 

Alibi – Make it Real ft. Riya  

Winslow – The Awesome Express 

Collette Warren & Dunk – Black Rainbow (Dub) 

T95 – ID 

Koherent & Monrroe – Need U  

Monrroe & Operate – Nothing (Dub) 

T95 & Dunk – Pirate Radio 

DLR – Sufferation  

Riya – Fear Bites ft. Villem & McLeod & Dynamite MC 

Alix Perez – Black Spirit  

Mystific & Jungle – ID 

Technimatic – Minefield (Dub)   

Battery & Philth – Ambra (Dub) 

Paul T & Edward Oberon – Believe in Me  

SL8R – Mimosa  

Phil:sophy – Eclipse  

Henry & Mystific ft. Bazil MC & Riya – ID  

Arctic Lake – Cold Hands (Komatic Bootleg) (Dub) 

Phaction – Cathedral Strings (Dub) 

Walk:r – Paragon ft. Riya  

Monrroe & Riya – Closer