Dizzee Rascal To Stick With Making Pop Songs | Not Interested In U.S. Success
by 
Dave Parrack on August 10th, 2008
Rapper Dizzee Rascal recently managed to score his first number one hit with Dance Wiv Me, a collaboration with Scottish dance producer Calvin Harris. The song stayed at the top of the British charts for four weeks before being displaced by Kid Rock and the oh so derivative All Summer Long.
Unfortunately, because the song was rather more pop than his usual fayre, Dizzee had to put up with accusations that he had sold out. Yes it was different than his normal grime track but then it was also a bloody good song in its own right, and the mainstream appeal it had meant that it managed to sell very well.
Dizzee recently spoke to the Daily Record, and revealed that not only is he working on another track with Calvin Harris, but that he would also be keeping it pop when writing his next album.
“We are working on another tune and Calvin is also working on something with us for his album. But it’s not ready to put out yet as a follow-up. He makes really good beats that’s what attracted me to him in the first-place. They are catchy, quirky pop tunes.”
“I haven’t yet had that feeling of number one-ness. But it was positive. It broke down a few more doors for the underground or people in the urban scene. From now on, I think I’m always going to make a pop record. It makes sense. I’m in the business of selling records.”
“There’s no point in fronting to myself that I want to be this overly obscure artist. The underground thought I’d sold out as soon as I got a record deal. But I’m not underground and I’m not trying to be underground ever again.”
Dizzee Rascal is one of the few British rappers to move from the underground scene and become more widely recognised. It helped that he won the 2003 Mercury Music Prize for his début album Boy in Da Corner. But would he ever want to try and make it big in America? Especially at a time when there is kind of a British invasion going on.
“It’s like English people trying to make it in America. People are used to what they are used to hearing. People don’t take a quick liking to change. You’ve got to keep going. You’ve got to be hard balled.”
“It’s over-rated. I don’t think America is important to ‘break’ like everyone is going on about. Europe is as big as America, there’s more money and you’re more likely to be understood here.”
I think Dizzee has got the right idea, he’s trying to keep it real while also selling records, and he’s sticking with the UK and Europe. While female singers like Duffy and Amy Winehouse are getting publicity and doing good business in the U.S., the hip-hop market is so cut-throat over there that Dizzee is likely to be lost in the melee.
[Photo Source: wrestlingentropy at Flickr]
Tags: Brit, British, Calvin Harris, Dizzee Rascal, Duffy Amy Winehouse, Kid Rock, Mercury-Music-Prize, UK| 2.5 |
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POSTED IN: Dizzee Rascal, Gossip, Hip Hop, Interviews, News, Op Ed, Pop
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