Dope Ammo began in 1996 as a club-promoting collective, with Anil Shah and the other founding members performing as The Drunken Masters before turning to production. Shah, also known as Coco, had started out as a London club promoter in the mid-1990s. The group began as a four-person production unit, but after its other members moved on, Shah carried on alone as Dope Ammo from 2008. He is a DJ and producer based in Banbury, Oxfordshire, and has described the project as combining reggae, jump-up and jungle.
Production work began in 1998, the year Shah established Dope Ammo Records as an outlet for the project’s drum-and-bass music. Early collaborators included Micky Finn and Aphrodite. The project’s releases include the album Roots & Future and the track “Kill Bill.” He has also contributed soundtracks to the video game franchises DJ Hero and B-Boy.
In 2016, Dope Ammo remixed Alan Walker’s “Faded” for Sony Music. The remix of Baby D’s “Let Me Be Your Fantasy”, made with DJ Hybrid, reached No. 2 on Beatport’s main chart and became the platform’s biggest-selling drum-and-bass tune across a 12-month period. Shah also worked with vocalist Elisabeth Troy on “You Had It” and “Happiness”; both received support from Radio 1 and Kiss FM. The 2022 album Together, released with Moondance, featured Ray Keith, Slipmatt, Nookie and Bladerunner, and reached No. 1 bestseller status across Beatport, Juno and iTunes Dance.
In 2025, Dope Ammo and Elisabeth Troy released the singles “You Had It” and “Happiness.” That year, Shah played at The Lido Margate and Mannheim’s MS Connexion Complex. His 2026 appearances included Melkweg on 23 March and The Social on 29 August. Dope Ammo is also the CEO of Dope Ammo Recordings, the label behind the project’s continuing work.