Dot Rotten, one of the biggest names in the UK grime scene, has died at age 37.
Whether his name actually stood for “Dirty On Tracks, Righteous Opinions Told To Educate Nubians” like he said or was just an honour to the EastEnders character Dot Cotton, we may never know.
Dot (AKA Joseph Ellis-Stevenson)’s death was confirmed to the BBC by his family, and internet reports say he was in Gambia during the time.
Ellis-Stevenson was a through and through London local who first burst onto the scene when he was still a teenager.
From there, he started making beats for pretty much everyone in the scene, while also releasing seven volumes of his Rotten Riddims series on top of a bunch of other mixtapes – his track ‘XCXD BXMB’ has been sampled by AJ Tracey and Kano.
Right after signing with Mercury records back in 2011, he teamed up with everyone’s favourite ginger Ed Sheeran on his No 5 Collaborations Project EP, and has also worked with names like Cher Lloyd, Chip, and D Double E.
The year after that, he secured a Top 20 hit with her track ‘Overload’, which was actually a freestyle – and one that he never even intended to release, mind you.
After all that, he changed his name to Zeph Ellis and started releasing music independently here and there, but ultimately really locked into producing.
A few months ago, he revived his Dot Rotten pseudonym to drop ‘Psalms for Praize’ which is an ode to just how dedicated the man was to his music.
Tributes are pouring in from all the greats in the grime scene, and many seem to think Dot never truly got the flowers he deserved.
Rest in peace, Dot Rotten.
