Short Biography
There couldn't have been a more perfect beginning to mark the next phase of Dizzee Rascal's already glittering career. The first official release from the 2008 Dirtee Stank camp, "Dance Wiv Me" featuring Calvin Harris & Chrome shot straight to number one in the UK charts obliterating everything in its path and heralding a new era for the hip hop impresario in spectacular style. Single of the week on Zane Lowe, Jo Whiley and Scott Mills' BBC Radio 1 Shows, the track stormed national and regional radio A lists and as a hip hop/pop/dance hybrid, it sets the label's agenda neatly for credible commercial music.
Following his time at XL Recordings, in which Dizzee sold over 600,000 records, he's learnt a great deal from his experiences. With the majors navigating the mainstream, Dizzee has maintained his edge whilst blending his early sounds with an array of genres and appealing to a widespread audience spanning street kids to conservative broadsheet readers. His UK flavour has travelled successfully to all corners of the globe, marked by recent gigs in New York, LA, New Zealand and Australia. An invitation to perform at Australia's MTV awards saw Dizzee proclaimed by Wyclef Jean as one of the best rappers in the world. Having firmly made his mark in the music industry with classics like 'Jus A Rascal' and 'Fix Up Look Sharp', Mercury Award-winner Dizzee etched his sometimes controversial, yet always original, style deep within hip hop's musical body with the cross genre and critically acclaimed album 'Maths and English', his most commercial to date. The first single, 'Sirens' a hardcore guitar lead UK half brother to Jay-Z's 99 Problems was followed by "Old Skool" and "Flex" whilst a collaboration with American gangsta rappers Bun B and Pimp C produced "Where's Da G's", an original and edgy track with a UK tinged Southern style beat produced by Dizzee himself.
Long before success took hold, Dirtee Stank Recordings was conceived by Dizzee Rascal and manager/producer Nick Cage in 2002 in order to reach a wider audience with his release 'I Luv U', a massive underground hit which generated huge interest from major industry players. With over 15,000 records sold as white labels, Dizzee always knew that Dirtee Stank Recordings could be a huge success. Six years later, three gold albums deep, Dizzee returns to his early creation embarking on his first foray into the business side of the industry.
Dizzee's style has evolved and progressed and recent collaborations with artists as diverse as Arctic Monkeys and Fatboy Slim demonstrate Dizzee's vision and musical genius. Citing influences which range from old skool hip hop to jungle and heavy metal, Dizzee embodies an artist with a unique talent whose pioneering approach will guarantee his longevity. Fusing his musical knowledge with an array of invaluable experiences in the corporate world, Dirtee Stank Recordings is setting a new precedent not only for the UK urban scene but for the global music industry.
In-depth Biography
Dizzee Rascal was one of the U.K.'s most prominent music subjects during the latter half of 2003. Just a few months prior to winning his country's Mercury Prize -- for Boy in da Corner, his debut album -- his name was known only by his peers and devout followers of the garage scene. Though the innovative MC/producer was only 18 at the time of the album's release, there was plenty to talk about beyond his music.
Born Dylan Mills, Dizzee Rascal grew up in a council estate in East London and was raised as a single child by his mother. He didn't fare well in schools; he was booted from several of them, often for altercations with teachers. While not in school, he got himself into further trouble by robbing pizza deliverers and stealing cars. One particular music class, however, proved to be a safe haven and helped push him in an alternate direction. With support from his instructor, he began making his own productions on a classroom computer. Noisy, off-kilter tracks were made to back his own MCing, since he found that the average garage track was not suited for his style of delivery. Taking cues from a host of admired U.S. MCs, Mills began to develop his songwriting skills, which began to take on an increasingly introspective quality. He was no stranger to making boastful pronouncements, but he drew from his own life and various mind states in a way that few other MCs -- regardless of background and nationality -- had done before.
When Mills recorded the underground white-label single "I Luv U," he had just started to make a name for himself in the U.K. garage scene, as a member of Roll Deep Crew. He, his fellow crew members, and a cast of other groups and MCs were building on a more aggressive and abrasive offshoot of relatively slick, R&B-oriented garage that would begin to be referred to as grime. "I Luv U" became one of grime's key singles and paved the way for Mills' first full-length album, which was routinely praised by critics upon initial release in July of 2003. In what might have initially seemed like a press stunt to cynics, Mills was stabbed several times while visiting Ayia Napa, a resort in Cyprus, just before its street date. He made a safe recovery, picked up the 2003 Mercury Prize a couple months later, guested on Basement Jaxx's Kish Kash, and saw his album receive a U.S. release in January of 2004. He became more of an underground sensation stateside; Anglophiles with equal love for dance music and hip-hop tended to embrace him, while others found themselves baffled by all of the hype. In September of 2004, Dizzee released Showtime worldwide, followed by Maths and English in 2007. Between the release of the two albums, Dizzee set up a fledgling label for younger talent called Dirtee Stank. ~ Andy Kellman, All Music Guide
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