Robert Del Naja

Robert Del Naja
Robert del Naja performing with Massive Attack in Sydney, 2010
Background information
Also known as	3D, Delge
Born	(1966-01-21) 21 January 1966
Origin	Bristol, England
Genres	Trip hop, electronica
Years active	1988–present
Associated acts	Massive Attack, The Wild Bunch, UNKLE

Robert Del Naja (pron. /ˈrɒbə(r)t dɛl ˈnaʒa/; born 21 January 1966), also known as 3D, is an English artist and musician. Initially gaining notoriety as a graffiti artist and member of the Bristol collective known as "The Wild Bunch", Del Naja went on to become a founding member of the band Massive Attack, with whom he is still active.

Music

Del Naja is one of the founding members of Bristol trip hop collective Massive Attack, who have released 5 studio albums and 2 compilation albums, and has often featured as a vocalist on their releases. In addition to his work with Massive Attack, he provided vocals to "Invasion" on UNKLE's album Never, Never, Land, and "Twilight" on War Stories.

Art work

Del Naja was a graffiti artist before becoming a vocalist. His work has been featured in magazines and on record sleeves. The graffiti artist Banksy cites his work as an influence. Del Naja is credited as one of the people who brought the American hip-hop and graffiti culture from the USA to Bristol in the early 1980s.

Del Naja has designed and painted all of Massive Attack's album sleeves, collaborating with Judy Blame, Tom Hingston and photographer Nick Knight.^{[citation needed]} Del Naja also created the cover art for Unkle's four consecutive albums: War Stories, More Stories, End Titles... Stories for Film and End Titles... Redux, including the dedicated merchandise.^{[citation needed]}

Del Naja took part in a group show in 2007 called 'Warpaint' at the "Lazarides" gallery, London, featuring his art from the Unkle album "War Stories". He also created an exhibition of flags at "Massive Attack's Meltdown festival" on London's south bank in 2008. The installation was called "Favoured Nations". Alternative flags of the British commonwealth recoloured in the anarchist red and black, were hung from the ceiling of the Royal Festival Hall main floor.

Del Naja has co-designed all of Massive attack's lighting shows with UVA; the shows have been overtly political, always dealing with current local and international issues.

In a 2010 interview, Del Naja said "Painting is difficult for me because I'm colour blind. Back in the day, I had to label my spray cans with what colour they were because I couldn't tell ... It's like the emperor's new clothes: [people] telling me it's great, and me pretending that's what I intended."

Musical scene and artistic peers

Robert Del Naja's music has been associated with the Bristol Sound. He has also worked with other Bristol based artists such as Tricky and Roni Size.

Robert has said of the Bristol Scene "We all grew up listening to punk music and funk stuff and those attitudes sort of snuck into our music. That sort of brought people from different circles together and maybe it wasn't as 'cultural melting pot' as it all sounds but because Bristol is quite a small place, it becomes a lot more focused then."

Del Naja is a key member of the Bristol underground scene.^{[citation needed]}

Robert Del Naja wrote the song Manchild for Neneh Cherry.

In January 2013 Massive Attack announced a special collaboration with the film-maker Adam Curtis for this year's Manchester international festival. Massive Attack v Adam Curtis – described by the band's Robert del Naja as "a collective hallucination"

Music for film

Massive attack's music has been used in a series of film releases. Del Naja has also co-written a series of film scores and original pieces with writer/producer, Neil Davidge, and contributed to the 2008 film Gomorra, also featuring Euan Dickinson, that went on to win the award for David di Notello "best original song" . Most recently Del Naja contributed to the Mexican film Dias de Gracia with Tim Goldsworthy.^{[citation needed]}

Political stance

Del Naja has been critical about government policy. He was strongly opposed to the 2003 United States war against Iraq, and with fellow musician Damon Albarn paid for full page adverts in the NME magazine.^{[citation needed]}

In 2005 Del Naja organised and performed at a charity concert in Bristol for Tsunami Relief with Adrian Utley and Geoff Barrow of Portishead. The two-night event featured Massive Attack, Portishead, Robert Plant, The Coral and Damon Albarn and raised around £100,000 for the British Red Cross^{[citation needed]}

Del Naja and Marshall performed three sell out shows in 2005 in support of Hoping, an organisation that helps raise money, support projects for Palestinian youth in refugee camps in the occupied territories and Lebanon and Syria. The shows managed to raise over £100,000.

Del Naja and Damon Albarn with the help of United Visual Artists campaigned against Trident nuclear sub renewal aboard the Arctic Sunrise on the Thames.

In 2008, Massive Attack curated the annual Meltdown festival on London's south bank. During the two weeks of live performance, cinema and art, they teamed up with human rights lawyer Clive Stafford Smith and his Reprieve organisation which uses the law to enforce the human rights of prisoners.

In 2010, the video for shot by Oliver Chanarin and Adam Bloomberg for the song "Saturday come slow", featuring Damon Albarn, the band drew attention to the use of music in torture; the video features a victim of music torture, Ruhal Ahmed.

In 2010, Massive Attack donated the income from a Lincoln car commercial, to the clean up after the BP oil spill disaster. Massive Attack donated all proceeds from their 2010 EP Atlas Air this week for "War Child", a charity the band previously supported when they contributed to the HELP album.

Del Naja supports the Palestinian Campaign for the Academic and Cultural Boycott of Israel and his band will not perform in Israel, a stance Del Naja qualifies as being "not an action of aggression towards the Israeli people" but "towards the [Israeli] government and its policies", arguing that "the Palestinians [in Israel] have no access to the same fundamental benefits that the Israelis do."

Del Naja and Thom Yorke of Radiohead threw an unofficial office Xmas party at the occupied USB bank in the city of London in December 2011, in recognition and support for the international Occupy movement.

Having previously boycotted playing at Bristol's Colston Hall due to its connection with the city's historic slave trade, in October 2012, Del Naja heavily criticised Bristol Mayor candidate George Ferguson because of his membership of a local organisation the Society of Merchant Venturers. The organisation dates back to the 16th century and had many connections with the Bristol slave trade, continuing to this day as an elitist private organisation, open to very few by invitation only. In November 2012 Del Naja then took a surprising stance to reverse his position and endorse the politically independent, wealthy, ex LibDem parliamentary candidate, George Ferguson. Del Naja was cited by local media as saying that the other candidates had only party political agendas at heart and a newly elected mayor needed more imagination to help implement creative projects for Bristol.

External links

• Official Massive Attack website
• BBC Collective interview
• Innerview interview