Nicky Blackmarket

Nicky Blackmarket (born 22 December 1967) is a London-born DJ and occasional record producer best known for his work in drum and bass and jungle. He is based in London and is associated with a broad palette of styles that appear in his sets and record-shop curation, including breakbeat, hardcore, dub, reggae and related bass-driven forms.

He began DJing in the 1980s at around age 14. Early in his career he played on London pirate radio stations Pulse FM and Eruption FM, where he honed live mixing and selection skills in a broadcast environment. That early radio work placed him among the crew of DJs helping to shape the developing jungle and drum and bass sound in the UK.

Blackmarket was part-owner of the independent record store Blackmarket Records (BM-Soho) in Soho, Central London. The shop (often referred to as BM-Soho) functioned as a physical hub for DJs and collectors and sits on his list of concrete contributions to the scene alongside his radio and club appearances.

As a DJ, his sets focus on breakbeat-driven drum and bass and jungle material. He is known for selections that emphasise weighty low end and breakbeat momentum, bridging older jungle rollers and later drum and bass formats. His mixing style developed in live-radio and club contexts: track-to-track blending, quick response to dancers or listeners, and a preference for rhythms and basslines that carry energy across long sets.

On the production side, Blackmarket has released occasional material under the alias Nick O.D. One verified example is the Spam EP, released under that name. Production output has remained limited compared with his DJ work; his recorded releases are a smaller, intermittent part of his catalogue rather than his primary activity.

He is widely cited as a key figure in the early jungle/drum and bass scene in London. Specific, verifiable touchpoints are his early start in the 1980s, his Pulse FM and Eruption FM broadcasts, ownership of Blackmarket Records (BM-Soho) in Soho, and his releases as Nick O.D., including the Spam EP. His primary focus throughout has been DJing worldwide, and he continues to perform internationally.

Publicly available documentation of named individual influences or a long list of collaborations is limited; the clear, verifiable markers in his career remain his pirate radio work, the BM-Soho record shop, the Nick O.D. release Spam EP, and his ongoing international DJing.