Wayne “Lotek” Bennett started in the music industry in 1993 as a “tape operator”. First at Motown UK’s East London studio and then Rollover Studios in West London. He assisted in many recordings sessions for a wide variety of artists from Leftfield to Seal.
By 1997 he was the engineer for independent UK hip-hop label, Sound Of Money records. There he helped shape the sound of a young Rodney Smith, AKA Roots Manuva.
In 1999 Roots Manuva signed to Ninjatune’s newly formed Big Dada label. Lotek produced tracks for the first 4 albums (Including the critically acclaimed “Brand New Second Hand”, and the Mercury Prize nominated “Run Come Save Me”). He also directed the Run Come Save Me UK and European tours.
In 2003 Wayne signed to Big Dada as an artist in his own right. He released 2 albums under the name Lotek Hi-Fi. He also produced the 2009 Mercury Prize-winning album “Speech Therapy” by Speech Debelle, who beat artists such as Florence and the Machine, La Roux and Bats for Lashes to take home the prize.