Dizzee Rascal, that "Boy in da Corner" turned 23-year-old grime superstar, is on a U.S. tour stopping at Emo's tonight in support of his third album, Maths + English, released stateside June 5. Dizzee, nearly as well-known in the States as in his native London, has traded in the darker themes of project life for an album full of club-worthy bangers just in time for the summer.
Currently, his non-album song "Dance Wiv Me," a bouncy track featuring U.K. soul singer Chrome and disco-lover Calvin Harris, stands at the No. 1 spot on U.K. charts. It is the first hit off an independent label, Dizzee's own Dirtee Stank Recording, to do so in 12 years.
Daily Texan: You hit #1 in England with "Dance Wiv Me." Did you expect this song to become as popular as it is right now?
Dizzee Rascal: It's mad. I was hoping it'd go top 10 but it's been No. 1 for the past two weeks, and it looks like it's about to go for a third. I guess with so much negativity in the news or whatever, people want something like this. I love to make people dance. First it's for the ladies, and it's also for the guys to get with the ladies.
DT: When you arrive in Austin, you'll be fresh off playing the Pitchfork Festival in Chicago and Roger's Picnic in Toronto. How different is performing at a festival versus a club show?
DR: The intimacy of the club is quite good. I love when the crowd is close, and you can actually reach out and touch them.
It's good to balance it out like that, I think, or you can lose track of reality a bit. I've actually been in Austin several times, for SXSW and the filming of my video for "Pussyole."
DT: You've said before that you love the South. Why do you feel a connection here?
DR: It's always been a place I get along well. I really love the attitude there, especially the Southern hospitality. I'm also such a massive fan of Southern hip-hop, like Three 6 Mafia, Young Jeezy, Dem Franchize Boys. That's the hip-hop that's really getting me excited right now.
DT: That's interesting to hear, given that some American artists feel the sort of hip-hop getting a lot of airplay today is inauthentic, something record execs like because they know they can sell it.
DR: I think that comes from people taking themselves a little too seriously. I mean, it embodies everything hip-hop has always been about, since back when those New York cats in the early days were doing songs about going to parties, dancing, drinking, having fun.
DT: How did you view the process when you first began making music?
DR: To be fair, I wasn't really thinkin' about making an album or anything like that at the time - just making songs for raves or for pirate radio - and then I started to get a lot of hype, and I could do an album then. I was always just trying to make complete songs, pieces of work, pieces of art. But I listened to a lot of music like Nirvana, Iron Maiden, Bone Thugs, Project Pat, and I knew what an album should do.
DT: At this point in your career, what is the hardest part of what you do? Recording, touring, Dirtee Stank business?
DR: The touring can get quite hard. You never get settled when you get back home because you're already on the move again. It has been hard on my relationships at times; I've fallen out with a lot of people over it, but I'm following my heart. I can't help it.
DT: What is it like to live up to a public image such as yours? Do you feel that people expect you to be something you are not?
DR: Yeah, that's why I try to keep it tidy, keep it movin'. I'm not gonna please everyone with my personality ... so I put my everything into my shows. I cut no slack when it comes to the live performances.
DT: On your Austin set list we can expect …
DR: I realized that it's hit after hit really. No downtime.
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