Donovan Bad Boy Smith

Donovan started DJ'ing when he was 16 playing soul alldayers, hip hop, and rare groove, under the names of 'The Baron', 'Don the Glove', 'Quick Eddie' and 'Donovan Bassline Smith'. But it wasn't until he was tagged by the Top Buzz MC, Mad P, that he became Donovan 'Bad Boy' Smith. Donovans drum and bass career exploded in the summer of 94 playing massive gigs to ravers up and down the country in such venues as the Brunel Rooms, Fantazia, Obssession, Roller express, Elevation, Life, Utopia and the Astoria. At this time he was also managing the jungle section of the Record Basement in Reading. It was then that he teamed up with Vinyl Distribution and was given control of the Street Beats label. This gave him a platform to start his own recording project with Reading engineer/producer Knowle Newton, which was to become Astral Vibes. They went on to debut on Rough Beats and then followed on with Street Beats 11. After a period of A&R'ing the label, Donovan hooked up with Blue, which led on to the partnership that is still going strong today. His DJ'ing career has been exceptional, spinning high profile slots such as the original 'One in the Jungle' show on BBC Radio One, Movement at Bar Rhumba, The Mass in Brixton, and a Knowledge Magazine cover CD. Donovan is Street Beats most travelled DJ, having played places such as Canada, Switzerland, Australia and the USA. He has produced projects with Markee Substance, Decoder, and Blue.