The future sound of London

Dizzee Rascal wants to reach as many people as possible. “Everyone, everyone. There’s no limit. You see what I’m doing, it ain’t been done before, and I’m doing it now.”

In just over one year Dizzee has recorded two critically acclaimed albums, toured the world, and won the Mercury Music Prize. The fact that lots of artists spend 10 years trying to get to that level of recognition is testament to the value of the sweatshop environment from which Dizzee emerged, where making music is not simply a hobby, but a means of survival. There’s simply no time to waste waiting for somebody else to usurp you, because in electronic music one thing is always certain: if you hang about, somebody will.
The great privilege for anyone interviewing a rapper like Dizzee is the simple fact that he communicates using the very instrument that distinguishes him as an artist, his voice. It’s like having a rock star answer your questions with guitar riffs. The conversation is illuminated with intermittent flashes of Dizzee’s fiercely charismatic vocal delivery.
That said, having done interviews all weekend he has a voice like an engine running low on oil. At times his London accent is thick and gloopy, and at others he speaks in a high-pitched, dry hack.
“As soon as I finished the first record I knew I wanted another one out a year later, definitely,” he asserts. “To go with the momentum, I started making Showtime straight away. Towards the end it started getting a bit gruelling, you know, kind of tiring, but it weren’t that much pressure. The hardest thing was just putting all my thoughts and feelings and words into rhyme.
“I wanted to show my diversity with my writing skills and my lyrics,” he continues, “without going too deep and too paranoid, or too melancholy or whatever – without making it too much for people’s heads.”
“It’s more of a party record than Boy In Da Corner. There’s a lot more vibesy and more dancey stuff on it. With the first album I was still coming to grips with the concept of, y’know, writing songs.”
After the success of Boy In Da Corner, were other MCs queuing up to work with Dizzee on Showtime?
“Nah, it was mostly the opposite, people throwing shots at me and that. But I just kept doing what I do innit? It’s about making albums. I concentrate on my work man.”
Does it become harder to trust people when you’re in the eye of the storm?
“I’ve always found it difficult to trust people. You can’t just trust someone. I trust myself. It don’t matter if people are into what I’m doing or just sucking up to me, it’s not important. Sometimes you can see if people are genuine, sometimes you can’t, but it don’t matter man. I don’t give a shit.”
This unflinching self confidence makes speaking to Dizzee intriguing but also a little intimidating. He simply will not parrot off the usual clichés, and if he doesn’t like a question, you’ll get an icy monosyllabic negative as a verbal slapdown.
However, when asked to describe his sound Dizzee gets really animated.
“I fink I sound like nuffing else abaaht!” he proclaims.
“I’m an individual, I’m my own person and I don’t try to sound like nobody. I think that’s one of the reasons people like my music too. I might be from London but my music ain’t a London thing. At the same time, I think people from all different walks of life can get an understanding, because I think it’s true that people have the same problems all around the world, really, even with different environments.”
That said, from its dense claustrophobia to the perpetual evocation of a rave scene which, while burnt out somewhat, is still smouldering and belching its neon smoke into the pop cultural atmosphere, Showtime screams London.
“London itself has got so much history, it’s a real melting pot,” Dizzee reflects. “It’s one of the most multicultural places in the whole world. There’s all sorts going on in London, man, and it definitely has an effect on my music. Raves were big for me too, they gave me the experience to know what makes a crowd of people happy, and what can really move a crowd.”
As well as having the verve to move crowds, there is no doubt that Dizzee Rascal’s music is highly political. Hardcore urban music is political in the rawest sense: it gives young impoverished people a free voice in mainstream media channels. Nonetheless it’s too tempting to not ask, what are Dizzee’s feelings on global politics, and the ‘War On Terror’?
“I can’t change the war, I don’t affect war. My music is something I’ve been doing for a long time and I’m just always trying to harness it and build it so that other things more close to home can get affected, like my immediate environment a lot of the time. Politicians are politicians. Kings and queens are kings and queens, that’s their role. I’m not a role model and I never will be. My job description only goes so far. But if I can influence people to make music that’s great.”
So what’s the next step on the ladder ?
“For now I’m just concentrating on touring and promoting the album, but I’m always hungry to do more work, out of habit, y’know? Music started to become a living when I was younger and in the underground, you know what I’m saying? When I was doing raves and all that, before I even got a deal, I was growing up and my situation was challenging. And I always knew my audience was getting bigger each time I did a show. I still think that way.
“Success comes with all sorts, but whatever it is, I can hold my own, I can handle it. The way I see it, I made a battle out of my career previously – but now, it’s all good.”
With sales of Boy In Da Corner at 100,000, and Showtime set to top that, it certainly is all good for Dizzee Rascal. And it’s going to get better.

Showtime is out now