Dizzee Rascal ist 25 Jahre alt. Dizzee hat mehr Geld als ich und wahrscheinlich auch mehr Frauen. Und Dizzee Rascal hat eben ein neues Album veröffentlicht, Tongue ‘n Cheek. Ich habe bisher noch gar nichts veröffentlicht außer „strictly confidential stuff“. Ins Universal Gebäude soll ich, dem Hauptquartier. Beeilen soll ich mich, Dizzee ist müde. Ich auch, ich bin auch müde. Egal, ich beeil mich. Es geht los. Mein Mund ist so trocken. Tongue ‘n Cheek sind eins.
Can I get a glass of water?
Are you American?
Yeah, I‘m American.
Ah you‘re actually American. Because the other dude wasn‘t American, he was German, right?
What, the journalist who just left?
Yeah, you know him?
No.
Because in Europe you get a lot of people that sound American. That pisses me off.
Me too. On my way here I was trying to calculate, according to the number of albums you‘ve released, how many interviews you must have already given throughout your career.
More interviews than songs, that‘s for sure. A lot of time wasted. It‘s all good.
Is it?
Yeah, wicked. That‘s a necessary part of it all man.
And you are in your early twenties?
I just turned 25.
Do you still see yourself as a rascal? Can you still identify yourself with that name?
The name is too big now to even think about a name change. Something like, The Artist Formerly Known As Dizzee Rascal, no. I think Tongue ‚n‘ Cheek is more rascal than Boy In The Corner.
What was the idea behind Tongue ‚n‘ Cheek?
I wanted to make an album like Snoop Dogg‘s Doggy Style. I mean not the same style, but an album that gets the party going. Uptempo, upbeat music that would counter the economic times as well. I didn‘t want to make music that would be like the soundtrack to the doom of gloom or something. But I still wanted to reflect it. So there are tracks on the album that talk about these issues over tracks you can bounce to.
Has life gotten easier for you with success?
I wouldn‘t say life has gotten easier. It‘s probably become harder because I have to work harder and do more. I‘ve been around the world and maybe I‘ve gotten a little bit more tolerant. And I‘ve gotten into different music. When I was a kid I didn‘t like House music or Electro or any of that stuff too much. But now I‘ve been around an environment like Ibiza, where I‘ve seen it, where I‘ve seen that it‘s good, where I‘ve seen the reaction it has and I got to absorb it and enjoy it. I actually don‘t really do that much partying. But during the making of the album I made sure that I actually went out and tried to have a bit of fun. It‘s supposed to be a fun album.
Around the time of your first album, people considered you strictly Grime. And ever since I feel you‘ve been experimenting and seeking to overcome certain stylistic boundaries.
But the crazy thing is that, what people called Grime was just me experimenting and trying not to be put in a category. And then they put me in the category. People say Fix Up, Look Sharp, that‘s Grime. No it‘s not. Run DMC did the same thing and that wasn‘t called Grime.
How hard is it for you to discipline yourself?
I don‘t have too many problems in disciplining myself. Every now and then I think I‘m going off the rails. But I‘m quick to put myself in check. Quick, very quick. Because I try not to take what I‘m doing for granted. This album was about relaxing as well, just enjoying it more. Putting a lot of good things in my life. I thought it would be better than just talking about the negative aspects of my life.
Which you‘ve already done.
Exactly.
Are you an only child or do you have siblings?
I‘m an only child.
Do you have conversations with yourself? Is that how you notice that you have things that you need to say?
You become really self-aware. You spend a lot of time on your own. How do you feel about going from being considered more of an underground artist to somebody who has just released another album that seems like it will work so well commercially?
I feel proud because that‘s what I intended to do and it‘s worked. It‘s not easy. I make it look easy, but it‘s not.
You obviously do a lot of travelling. Do you really get to appreciate the places you visited?
Sometimes it‘s just like a blur. Everything starts looking the same.
Was there one place you‘ve visited that impressed you the most?
There‘s loads of places, but I think going to America for the first time, that blew my mind. I‘d never seen any place like that. The first city I went to was L.A.
Yeah that place will leave an impression on you.
I think what blew me away was the variety.
How about the differences in accent, Brittish vs. American?
People didn‘t know what the f*** I was saying. Just ordering food and stuff like that. They thought I was Australian or Jamaican. English was the last thing they thought I was.
I assume you are going to keep producing?
Yeah, whatever it takes to get the perfect song. I don‘t have to make the perfect album. I‘m just having fun with it. I‘m getting different audiences and learning. I learn about people through the music as well. It‘s my life, I love it!
Interview Lev Nordstrom
Graphic Bianca Heinrichs
Lev Nordstrom
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