About Zeph Ellis

Dot Rotten, formerly known as 'Young Dot', is a grime MC and producer from Stockwell, South London. He is recognised as a genuine all-rounder, being proficient as both an MC and a producer, and consequently as one of the grime scene's best talents. Despite being from South London, he has links with artists from other areas, including East London's Griminal and Little Nasty, and being a member of the crew 'Hoodstars' who are predominantly based in West London. He was also a member of the relatively recent grime collective 'Organised Grime' (OGs). He began his musical career as an MC but, finding it difficult to get hold of beats from producers to vocal, began to produce himself. His early style, which still continues to this day, includes the use of lyrical sampling, as well as prominent drum sounds. His breakthrough on the underground was the beat 'Bazooka'; made while under the moniker of 'Young Dot', it gave him immediate status despite having being active for a substabtial period beforehand. He also released his debut mixtape 'This is the Beginning' under this name, and it was acknowledged to be one of the best mixtapes in its year of release by grime fans, even though the mixtape was made available for free download. 'Young Dot' became Dot Rotten in late 2007, and after making beats for numerous MCs he released his second mixtape in July 2008, which was entitled 'R.I.P Young Dot'. His back-catalogue of beats was made available around this time, collectively under several volumes and entitled 'Rotten Riddims'. Dot changed his named to Dot Rotten, after wanting to start afresh. As Young Dot, 'it represents a time when I was reckless and ignorant and wasn't really too on point. Basically I didn't have my head screwed on, I had a lot of things happen that put a tarnish on the name Y.Dot, itself. So it was to have a fresh start plus Dot Rotten stands for 'Dirty on Tracks, Righteous Opinions Told To Educate Nubians' or Niggaz or whatever... There's deeper meanings to it all so its all part of being a process of becoming a new artist, to market myself differently now Dot is known for his production skills, MCing, and also his temperament, having had wars with numerous MCs including Wiley, as well as producers Scratcha/DVA, Maniac, and Scorcher to name a few.