Tim began by telling Ben how he got started:

Tim Westwood: "I started off as a club DJ, I used to be down with the sound system and carry the boxes of the sound system and they used to let me get on the early set before the party started, and then I got myself a job in the west end of London working as a glass collector in a club called Gossips and they said if I pack the club with 50 people on a Friday night, they would let me get on the decks.

"So you know, I got all my crew down from West London where I'm from at Ladbrook Grove, well I'm from Hammersmith but I have all my friends in Grove so they came down, packed the club and they let me get on, so I was then the warm up DJ for David Roddingham on a Saturday night which was kind of a legendary night in the West End and then I was also the warm up for a guy called Steve Walsh who was the big DJ for that era, may he rest in peace. Then from there I got on a pirate station called LWR, that was a significant station because it was the first sort of black owned black on station representing the street.

"I was out and out playing Hip Hop, because that's what was just starting at the time, a lot of early Hip Hop records and from there I just became like a Hip Hop DJ, you know what I mean? That's what the crowd wanted and that's what I was playing so from there I just worked hard and kept focused and got where I am today. Radio wise I went from pirate to LWR to Capital, served a long apprenticeship there and blasted off in my own right and then off the back of that ended up on Radio 1."

Ben Spurr: UK Hip Hop has been considered underground for a long time now but artists such as Estelle and Dizzee Rascal are breaking in to the mainstream and prior to them Craig David and Ms Dynamite, so where do you see the scene going in years to come?

TW: It really depends on the artist, it's all about making big records, all about making hits. I think UK Hip Hop for too long now has kept itself small, people have made records for themselves and for the scene. They have been too concerned about scene itself instead of just making big records and I think the way forward is making club bangers, records that are ringing off in the club then get carried through to radio, clubs determine a lot of play list. If you're making a club hit, pirate radio DJs who earn their money by playing the clubs because you don't get paid for the radio will be in the clubs playing the heat and bringing it to radio and from then it will trickle up and that's how it will reach the Radio 1 play list.

BS: Having interviewed the creme de la creme of American artists who have you got most respect for in the current game and would you like to see go triple platinum?

TW: I mean a lot of the people that I interview man are big artists, we specialize in having big artists, I mean Hip Hop is big and a lot of those artists come over to my show because they know that's were they've got to go.

Eminem does two things in the UK, he does MTV Europe and he does Westwood Radio 1, at the end of the day artists understand what they've got to do when they come on the show so we have some really hot interviews and we have artists in all the time so that's a real positive thing and I think the interviews is one of the highlights of the show.

Most of the artists I see are selling well but my favourite artists are there are definitely Cam'ron and Dipset, I'd like to see them get more success, I think they are incredible. I like D-Block as well, I think Kanye's definitely got his props now, you know what I mean? 50's definitely got his props and Eminem's the biggest artist in the world so it's all good.

BS: Straight question to the man who knows Hip-Hop, who is the best MC of all time in Westwood's opinion?

TW: I think that would have to go to Biggie and 2Pac but personal favorites I would definitely include in the top five are Jay-Z, Ludacris because he says some real funny stuff, I'd put Cam'ron in there, Nas. For different reasons you know.

BS: Finally, another Westwood street banger has recently hit the store but what's next for the Big Dawg?

TW: Well, you know, we ain't stopping', more albums, we've got three albums coming in 2005, one at Easter, one for the summer holidays and one at Christmas. The radio show is going from strength to strength, I'm really enjoying that and then more parties - because there ain't no party like a Westwood party!