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 dizzee rascal interview
 to access audio and video on collective you need real player.Back with a bang. Dizzee Rascal is standing on a South Bank rooftop, hopping from one Nike to another. “Watch my legs!” he says, doing his own Bow-shaped version of an Eastern European gypsy dance. He’s describing what happened when he found himself watching “some Hungarian music” after a recent festival gig. “It was alright,” he says, reflectively, looking out over the Thames. “I could see how it corresponds with other music in the world like snap music or that down South bounce hip-hop. It’s uptempo, moving music.” The 21-year-old east London rapper, real name Dylan Mills, has just released his third album, Maths & English, and it’s as uptempo as the remembered music he’s dancing to – or at least as uptempo as a Dizzee Rascal album, packed as it is with sirens and corrugated basslines and battleground lyrics, could ever be. “I wanted to make people dance, make people happy again.”  His new-found party streak is partly down to having rediscovered the nightlife that kickstarted his musical career as a 13-year-old drum ‘n’ bass DJ and pirate regular named Dizzy D. “I started this album thinking the world’s shit, no one’s listening. Then I got happy again – I wanted to make club bangers.” It’s these bangers that provide the motor of Maths & English – aside from the powerhousing single Sirens, there’s the outsized dancefloor vibes of Pussyole (Old Skool) and Bubbles, his ode to the street-desirable Nike trainers, as well as pop-friendly guest spots from Lily Allen and Arctic Monkey Alex Turner. Not forgetting production spots from his Dirtee Stank label signings Newham Generals. “Grime is hip-hop, man! It’s British hip-hop but it sounds different because culturally and socially we’re influenced by other things – hardcore and drum ‘n’bass and garage.” And in Mills’ case, you can add rock to that list. “I was watching Marilyn Manson videos on MTV last night. Metallica, Linkin Park, Korn, I like all that. I’m a bit behind now, because I’m not as deeply into it as when I was ten. But if I listen to old Guns N’ Roses, it still moves me.”
Emma Warren
Dizzee Rascal – Maths & English, out 04 June 07 on XL Recordings.
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