Roy Davis Jr.

Roy Davis Jr. was born in Van Nuys, California, but grew up in Chicago's south suburbs, in a family steeped in music: his mother sang backup for the Chicago soul group the Dells and ran her church choir, and his uncle played keys for Roberta Flack. Introduced to house music by Farley Jackmaster Funk, Lil' Louis, and DJ Pierre, whom he met as a teenager in University Park, Davis got his start writing early tracks for Pierre's Jack Trax label around age 16.

He joined DJ Pierre's acid house group Phuture as Pierre's replacement, following him to New York to work A&R and production for Strictly Rhythm before returning to Chicago. His 1996 single "Gabriel," featuring vocalist Peven Everett, sold over 250,000 copies and is widely credited with helping spark the UK garage sound after XL Recordings licensed it for release in Britain the following year.