Unlike Erik Lavoie, Dizzee Rascal is the hottest young British MC of the moment and his Roll Deep Entourage RULE the miserable streets of London. Along with young dudes like Nasty Crew, they’re transforming UK garage into something ten times rawer than all that Artful Dodger/Craig David rollneck-sweater shit that gives the Brits a bad name.

Not only do Dizzee’s beats sound like a ghetto Squarepusher, his rhyming skills are technically up there with the best American MCs. That’s why every fucking label in the world—including Def Jam—has been trying desperately to sign him. Dizzee is a legend in the making because his voice possesses the two qualities that British male singers must have if they are to truly succeed. He sounds both MAD and SAD at the same time.

VICE: You sound angry, dude…

Dizzee: Everyone’s got a bit of it in them. School was angry full stop. My background and everything around me weren’t nice. It was grimy. It felt like me against the world.

Why does living in London piss you off?

It feels oppressive. Like there’s no way out. You know there’s a world out there, but your mind is trapped. In fact, all of England feels crammed. It’s fucked. You see the same old cats, same old dealers, same old beef, same old shootings.…It gets to your head, get me?

If you lose your anger, you’re only satisfying one half of yourself. I always keep my anger just for a balance. There’s always going to be stuff to make me angry.

Like US jiggy-rap culture? You don’t cotton to that, right?

Bad things are glamorized: big cars, new fashion, guns. They just rent those cars for the video. Some people don’t look into things. They look at the telly but don’t look into the telly. Get me?

CLARKY THE CAT
Dizzee’s just signed to XL Recordings (Brit home of the White Stripes) and his “I Love You” jam is currently the biggest UK street hit of the last two years. Watch out for it over here soon.

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