Originally immersing himself in the flourishing house genre in the early 90s, Edwards quickly carved out a reputation for his unique vocal sampling and textured basslines that perfectly moulded around the 4/4 beat. The sound quickly drew traction as the freshest sound to take over the underground since jungle, first finding its feet on pirate radio stations before beginning to take hold of the mainstream as it progressed to a 2-step beat. It’s not easy to remember, but I think the first 45 record I got was Peter Brown and Betty Wright’s “Dance With Me”, released on Drive Records in 1978.

I needed a break from house and disco, so I was listening to something new age, and I was like: she uses her voice for instruments, she’s harmonising and her voice is blending in the background, it’s like you can barely make out what she’s singing – that’s a cool concept. Opinions expressed on this site are the author's alone, not those of a third-party entity, and have not been reviewed, approved, or otherwise endorsed.

There is a “very personal, very intense” documentary in the works, centring around his lost 2006 album Odyssey, a Discovery-inspired exploration of Christianity that, among its other delights, featured Edwards inhaling helium in a bid to sound like Björk. It was almost like the yin and yang scene in a movie – like you see them doing well and here I am, bottoming out and embarrassed, no energy to do this. With his first release coming in 1993, Edwards’ appreciation of house music pioneers such as Todd Terry and MK was evident.

The WHO recommends that you clean hands with alcohol-based hand rub or soap and water before putting on a mask. On TikTok, Edwards has been uploading mashups of unlikely song pairings which are mostly coming to him in the form of fan challenges.It’s funny, because I’m a very talkative person and I’ll talk to anyone now, but back then … I was going through so much. Perfect for phone cases, laptops, journals, guitars, refrigerators, windows, walls, skateboards, cars, bumpers, helmets, water bottles, hydro flasks, computers, or whatever needs a dose of originality. He talks excitedly about his upcoming DJ gigs, the warm response afforded his recent single The Chant, about setting up his own record label, the “30 or so” tracks he has ready to go, and the photograph of his pet rabbit that recently appeared in a dance music magazine.

His early work drew Edwards acclaim as a forefather of the UKG scene, with fans fondly referring to the New Jersey-born artist as ‘Todd the God’. Over 140 of his tracks will be available digitally for the first time, including ‘Saved my Life,’ one of his earliest and most well-recognised creations. Ahead of his set at 51 State Festival on Saturday 7th August, Todd ‘The God’ Edwards goes inside the mix for Complex Sessions with some bouncy, uplifting steppers. And, like his sets, his productions explore the connections between UKG, bassline/4x4 and house music, often using classic New York house (which, famously, was a huge influence on the first UKG creators in the ‘90s) as the nexus. Although he didn’t start DJing until the turn of the millennium, this legendary status saw Edwards rapidly pick up bookings across Europe.I wish I had been strong enough and in a better place to take advantage of it, but I was a mess in my 20s, dealing with depression and insecurity, social issues. It feels like most music across genres hits the same parameters and few take chances and try something new. Equally, it was undoubtedly a missed opportunity: you couldn’t tell from the video of his first DJ appearance, but by the time Edwards steeled himself enough to come to Britain, UK garage’s popularity was waning. He had, he explains today, never really DJ’d in a club before, certainly not in front of 1,500 people. In a sense, his steadfast non-appearance as UK garage exploded worked in his favour, developing such an aura of mystery around him that, as he once noted, “a lot of people thought I was a black English guy”.