Nice Up! was founded in 2005 by producer Shepdog (Jon Sheppard), who runs the label and handles A&R. It grew out of his club night, which began at 93 Feet East in East London around 2003, and it is based in London. The sound blends reggae, dub and jungle, with drum and bass, jungle and ragga jungle at the core and hip-hop, dancehall and dubstep in the wider mix, all drawing on soundsystem culture.
Ghost Writerz, Mr Benn and Shepdog himself have released on the label, along with Ragga Twins, MC Fats, Benny L, Chimpo and Top Cat. In 2013 Nice Up! issued Dirty Dubsters’ “Chant Down Babylon” featuring Chip Fu and Screechy Dan. On 17 June 2016 it released Inna NICE UP! Fashion, a collaboration with Fashion Records that reworked tracks from that label’s back catalogue. Its drum and bass output also includes NICE UP! Presents Drum & Bass, Vol. 2 and Ragga Twins’ “Too Much Madness,” and in 2026 Ragga Twins and Tippa Irie released “Fed Up.” Sheppard has said the label releases music digitally and presses vinyl while demand lasts.
