Not to be confused with Big Gay Out. For other uses, see Big Day Out (disambiguation).

This article's lead section may not adequately summarize its contents. Please consider expanding the lead to provide an accessible overview of the article's key points. (February 2012)

Big Day Out

Big Day Out Main stages Mount Smart Stadium in 2007
Location(s)	Australia Sydney (1992–97, 1999–present) Melbourne (1993–97, 1999–present) Perth (1993–97, 1999–present) Adelaide (1993–97, 1999–present) Gold Coast (1994–97, 1999 – present) New Zealand Mount Smart Stadium (1994–97, 1999–2012[1])
Years active	1992–97, 1999–present
Founded by	Ken West and Vivian Lees
Date(s)	Late January – early February
Genre	Heavy Metal, rock, hip hop, electronic, Industrial
Website	Official website

The Big Day Out (BDO) is an annual music festival held in several cities in Australia and New Zealand in late January. It started in Sydney in 1992, spread to Adelaide, Melbourne and Perth by 1993, with the Gold Coast and Auckland joining in 1994. As of 2003, it has featured seven or eight stages (depending on the venue) accommodating popular contemporary rock music, electronic music, mainstream international acts and local acts.

History[link]

The festival began in 1992 as a Sydney-only show with Violent Femmes as the headline act, along with Nirvana and a range of other foreign and local alternative music acts playing at the Hordern Pavilion. In the months preceding the event, Nirvana's Nevermind was released and became an international smash hit, therefore guaranteeing the success of the festival. Kurt Cobain was ill at the time of the show.^{[citation needed]} In 1993, the festival was extended to include Melbourne, Perth, and Adelaide.

Since 1994, the Big Day Out has travelled annually to Auckland, the Gold Coast, Sydney, Adelaide, Melbourne and Perth during a three-week period. The tour through the southern-hemisphere summer has become "the festival overseas acts want to be on". In 1997, organisers Ken West and Vivian Lees announced they were taking a year off, causing concern that the festival was coming to an end.^[2] On 17 January 2012, Big Day Out organiser Ken West announced that the Auckland Big Day Out on 20 January 2012, would be the last Big Day Out in New Zealand, and that they will be putting on the festival in Australia only in 2013.

American band Pearl Jam were booked to headline the 2001 tour almost 12 months in advance, as they had just started to do festivals for the first time since problems at festivals in the early 90s. On 30 June 2000 at the Roskilde Festival in Denmark, they ended their set prematurely after the crowd surged forward, crushing and fatally injuring nine people. They pulled out of the BDO, claiming that they would never play at festivals again. They did play Leeds & Reading Festivals, UK, in 2006.

The event reached the 100-shows milestone with the second of two Sydney events in 2010. With the impending milestone nearing, Lees boasted that the BDO has been able to build relationships with acts during their careers, which has become a part of the culture of BDO. The Australian said this has helped secure the BDO's world status and become recognised as one of the most successful and long-running rock festivals in the world, going on to say the festival is as much a part of Australian culture as the Melbourne Cup.^[2]

In 2010, the caravan of artists and crew contained 700 people, compared to the 70 who crossed Australia in 1993. West said even the Australian bands were taking bigger crews, "Through that the festival needs more production, more riders, more hotel rooms, more everything." A solid infrastructure has been built steadily over the years to help cope with the increasing demand of the festival, with requests for video mixers, back projections and backstage internet connections obviously becoming a lot more frequent than when touring began in 1993.^[2]

Due to increasing popularity of the event, in some years a second Sydney show has been held. The first time this occurred was in 2004, in recognition of the extreme popularity of Metallica. It occurred again in 2010, when Muse headlined, and also in 2011, with Tool and Rammstein headlining.

After downsizing the Auckland show for 2012 organisers announced on 17 January 2012 that the 2012 Big Day Out would be the last ever held in New Zealand due to financial constraints^[3].

Artist lineups[link]

Since its inception in 1992, Big Day Out has attracted a large range of artists, with headlining acts including Nirvana, Blink 182, Muse, Violent Femmes, Iggy Pop and the Stooges, The Ramones, Soundgarden, Rammstein, System of a Down, Limp Bizkit, Rage Against the Machine, The Prodigy, Marilyn Manson, Foo Fighters, Metallica, Tool, Neil Young and Red Hot Chili Peppers. The annual festival has also been a launching platform for many Australian artists, with various acts performing on the tour multiple times, such as Silverchair, Powderfinger, You Am I, The Living End, Jebediah, Grinspoon, Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds, Kisschasy, and Wolfmother.

Controversy[link]

Mosh pit death[link]

During the 2001 Big Day Out festival in Sydney, Jessica Michalik was crushed in a mosh pit during a performance by the band Limp Bizkit. She was revived and rushed to Concord Hospital, but died of a heart attack five days later.^[4]

The band's frontman Fred Durst claimed the band had attempted to take precautions that fell on deaf ears, "We begged, we screamed, we sent letters, we tried to take precautions, because we are Limp Bizkit, we know we cause this big emotional blister of a crowd". The following day, Limp Bizkit had left Australia without telling the organisers, who only discovered the band's departure through a note left at the hotel.^[4]

Senior deputy state coroner Jacqueline Milledge issued a statement saying responsibility was on the Big Day Out's promoters Creative Entertainment Australia, saying there was overwhelming evidence that crowd density was dangerous when Limp Bizkit went on stage. Limp Bizkit was also criticised in the report, Milledge saying that Durst could have taken the situation more seriously, with his comments on stage during the attempt to rescue Michalik "alarming and inflammatory".^[5]

Michalik's parents filed separate wrongful death claims naming promoters and security personal, and in one claim, Limp Bizkit. A New South Wales court dismissed the band and all parties connected with the band from the claim, finding they were not liable.^[6]

In 2005, United National Insurance sued Limp Bizkit in an attempt to avoid paying legal fees arising from Michalik's death. The company claimed in the lawsuit, which was filed on 11 August 2005, that Limp Bizkit frontman Fred Durst incited the audience at the festival to rush the stage.^[6]

Flag ban[link]

Wikinews has related news: Aussies ignore flag ban at Big Day Out festival

Entertainment at the Big Day Out in Melbourne

On 21 January 2007 a decision was made by the organisers to discourage Big Day Out patrons in Sydney from bringing and displaying the Australian flag. The organisers said the decision was a result of recent ethno-religious tensions in Sydney, complaints that the previous year's festival had been marred by roving packs of aggressive flag-draped youths,^[7] and recognition that some indigenous Australians take issue with celebrating the start of British settlement.

Sections of the community had strong views in support of or objection to the policy. Former Prime Minister John Howard, New South Wales Premier Morris Iemma and Federal Leader of the Opposition Kevin Rudd publicly condemned the move. Iemma suggested the event be cancelled if the organisers could not secure the safety of attendees. Main stage act Jet performed in front of a large backdrop of a black-and-white Australian flag cut-out of their name, with lead vocalist Nic Cester adding, "I can't tell anyone else what to do but we as a band are very proud to be Australian and we don't want to feel we are not allowed to feel proud".^[8]

However, other people including Andrew Bartlett of the Australian Democrats, sports writer Peter FitzSimons and members of the hip hop outfit The Herd expressed concern that the flag was being misused by a handful of aggressive attendees in a jingoist manner, and that rock concerts were not the appropriate venue to be waving a flag.^[9]

On the first day of the 2007 Sydney Big Day Out significant numbers of patrons attended the event wearing Australian flag-related apparel or carrying Australian flags. No-one was refused entry and no flag-related material or clothing was confiscated. Since that date there has been no further suggestion of banning the Australian flag from Big Day Out events.

Drug usage and death[link]

Drug usage is commonly associated with the Big day out,^[10] with police searching suspected users and dealers by placing drug sniffing dogs at some entrances of each venue and patrolling the event.^[11] At the 2008 festival in Sydney, police made 86 drug-related arrests. In 2009, identification of 258 suspects resulted in 107 people being detained for drug violations.^[12] In Perth (2009), police made 59 arrests for possession of drugs, including four with intent to sell or supply. 129 tablets of MDMA, two grams of methamphetamine, six grams of cannabis, 75 cannabis joints, and 21 tablets of dextroamphetamine were seized by police.^[13]

At the 2009 Big Day Out festival in Perth, 17-year-old Gemma Thoms collapsed after allegedly taking three ecstasy tablets.^[14] She died 12 hours later in Sir Charles Gairdner Hospital, after being transferred from the event's first-aid post.^[15] The girl and her friend reportedly took one tablet each whilst at home before the event. After arriving, she reportedly saw police near the entrance, panicked, and swallowed another two tablets.^[14] Police later denied responsibility for Thoms' death, noting that no sniffer dogs were being used to search patrons at the entrance she had used. Thoms had been driven by car and had not taken the train to the station where police were searching.^[16] Police did not make any arrests, but officers did raid a house in their search for the dealer who had supplied the ecstasy.^[14]

In addition, bands themselves have been caught in drug situations leading to death, especially in the case of Shihad, whose manager, Gerald Dwyer, died of a drug overdose in 1996 in his hotel room, just hours after watching the band's set at the Auckland BDO. The band skipped the Brisbane BDO in order to attend Gerald's funeral, and later rejoined the BDO tour in Sydney.^[17]

Beenie Man and Odd Future controversy[link]

In November 2009, gay rights groups in New Zealand protested after controversial rapper Beenie Man was included in the second round of announcements for the 2010 tour. Groups such as GayNZ.com cited controversial and homophobic lyrics from Beenie Man's songs such as "I'm dreaming of a new Jamaica/Come to execute all the gays". The group called for Big Day Out organisers to drop Beenie Man from the line up "to send a message that homophobia is unacceptable", and over 850 people joined a Facebook group to oppose his appearance.^[17]

On 15 November 2009, the festival's Australian organisers issued a statement on their website, confirming that Beenie Man had indeed been dropped from the lineup. Whilst they acknowledged his commitment to the 2007 Reggae Compassionate Act and his promises to not perform the offending songs on his tour, they ultimately made the decision to drop Beenie Man because they felt his appearance would "be divisive amongst our audience members and would mar the enjoyment of the event for many."^[18]

In early November in 2011, ahead of the 2012 Big Day Out, Odd Future were taken off the Auckland line up due to some of their lyrics being allegedly homophobic. ^[19]

Compilation albums[link]

• Big Day Out 00 (2000)
• Big Day Out 01 (2001)
• Disrespective (2002)
• Big Day Out 03 (2003)
• Big Day Out 04 (2004)
• Big Day Out 05 (2005)
• Big Day Out 06 (2006)

References[link]

Footnotes[link]

Notations[link]

• Big Day Out – Past Lineups. Retrieved 18 December 2006.
• Sydney Morning Herald story.
• [2]

External links[link]

• Official Big Day Out website

Big Day, originally titled A Day in the Life, is an American situation comedy that first aired on ABC from November 28, 2006 to January 30, 2007. The series was co-produced by Josh Goldsmith and Cathy Yuspa and directed by Michael Spiller for Sony Pictures Television. In Canada, the series aired on CanWest's Global and CH stations.

Originally, it was supposed to debut on October 5, 2006, along with Notes from the Underbelly, but ABC made a last-minute change in its schedule by moving Ugly Betty to Thursday, thus replacing both sitcoms whose "buzz" was not especially promising.

Big Day was broadcast on Tuesdays at 9:00/8:00c. The timeslot was supposed to be filled by another new sitcom that had a better "buzz," The Knights of Prosperity, but ABC moved that program to Wednesdays to make Big Day a priority. Unfortunately, according to the ratings, Big Day turned out to be a very big disappointment.^[1]

When Big Day ended its first season on January 30, 2007,^[2] only 12 of the 13 produced episodes aired leaving the 13th episode, titled The $10,000 Check, unaired.

On May 15, 2007, ABC officially cancelled the show after the network announced their 2007-2008 fall schedule.

A film based on the show was cancelled twice in development from 2007 to 2008. In 2010, a re-version of the movie adaptation is currently in Pre-Production.

Synopsis[link]

Big Day follows a major event in a couples' life — the big wedding day — during the course of one day from all angles, and the people involved (similar to 24), ranging from the maid of honor who accidentally drinks the contact lenses of the best man whom she slept with, to the bride's ex-boyfriend, who's opposed to the union and will stop at nothing to throw a wrench into the plans.

All of these events and other obstacles are part of the ultimate test that Danny and Alice will have to face before they walk down the aisle and say their I Do's...unless someone should stand up and ask why this couple should not be joined together in holy matrimony.

The story arc has similarities to the 2004-6 BBC series The Worst Week of My Life, which has also been the subject of a FOX pilot (2005) and the CBS sitcom Worst Week (2008).

Cast[link]

Nielsen ratings[link]

Episodes[link]

International broadcasters[link]

Country	TV Network(s)	Series Premiere	Timeslot
United States	American Broadcasting Company	November 28, 2006	(cancelled)
Canada	Global Television Network	TBA	TBA
United Kingdom	ITV2 (First Run) Paramount Comedy 1 (Repeats)	May 15, 2007	Tuesday's around 11pm (repeated Fridays at 8pm) (ITV2)
Turkey	ComedyMax
Latin America	Sony Entertainment Television	November 5, 2007	Mondays at 9pm in space "Mentes Peligrosas" ("Dangerous Minds") (repeated Saturdays around 11am)
New Zealand	TV2	Feb 2008	Fridays at 7:30pm (final episode aired on May 2)
Australia	Nine HD	Wednesday, August 13, 2008	Wednesdays at 10.30pm (final episode aired on October 15)
Belgium	vtm	unknown	Sunday's around 2:30pm

Reception[link]

Big Day was considered "One of the Worst TV comedies Ever Killed" and "One of the Most Hated Comedy Series Ever". Metacritic indicated that 39% of critics gave the show widely negative to poor reviews. The show's negative criticism mostly focused on Wendie Malick, who played Jane on the show. In 2010, the show is topped as "One of the Worst TV Shows of the 2000s", according to Rolling Stone magazine.

References[link]

External links[link]

• Big Day at the Internet Movie Database
• Big Day at TV.com

Dizzee Rascal
Background information
Birth name	Dylan Kwabena Mills[1]
Also known as	Dizzee Rascal, Raskit
Born	(1984-09-18) 18 September 1984 (age 27)[2]
Origin	Bow, East London, England[3]
Genres	Grime, house, hip hop
Occupations	Rapper, record producer, songwriter, singer
Years active	2000–present
Labels	XL Recordings (2003–2007) Dirtee Stank (2003 – present) Island Records (2011–present)
Associated acts	Newham Generals, Calvin Harris, Roll Deep, Wiley, Tinchy Stryder, Shirley Bassey, Arctic Monkeys, Guthrie Govan, Shakira, Basement Jaxx, DJ Fresh.
Website	dizzeerascal.co.uk

Dylan Kwabena Mills (born 18 September 1984), better known by his stage name Dizzee Rascal, is a UK and US-based rapper, songwriter and record producer of Ghanaian and Nigerian descent.^[4] His music is a blend of garage, hip hop, grime, ragga, pop and electronic music, with eclectic samples and more exotic styles. Best known for his number-one hits "Dance wiv Me", "Bonkers", "Holiday", "Dirtee Disco" & "Shout", his debut album, Boy in da Corner, won him the 2003 Mercury Prize. Follow-up albums Showtime, Maths + English and Tongue n' Cheek have all been critically acclaimed and certified gold, the last going platinum for sales exceeding 300,000 units.

Early life[link]

Mills' Nigerian father died when he was young, and he was raised in Bow, in the East End of London in a single-parent family by his Ghanaian mother Priscilla, about whom he says: "I had issues as a kid. I was violent and disruptive. The way my mum helped was by finding me a different school every time I got kicked out, always fighting to keep me in the school system" he attended St Pauls Way Community School.^[5][6][7]

He attended a series of schools in East London, and was expelled from four of them – it was a teacher who first called him "Rascal".^[8] Cagey about exactly what Mills' youthful "madnesses" entailed, in early interviews he mentioned fighting with teachers, stealing cars and robbing pizza delivery men.^[7] In the fifth school he was excluded from all classes except music.^[8] He also used to attend YATI (Young Actors Theatre Islington)^[7]

He began making music on the school's computer, encouraged by a music teacher, Mr Smith,^[7] and during the summer holidays attended a music workshop organised by Tower Hamlets Summer University^[6][9] of which he is now a patron.^[6] His mother bought him his first turntables.

He was a childhood friend of Nigerian footballer Danny Shittu, whom Mills described as 'like a big brother'.^[10]

Music and style[link]

Dizzee Rascal once told author Ben Thompson in an interview with the Sunday's Observer magazine that “everything I do is for the music – I want to master it like Bruce Lee mastered martial arts."^[11]

His music is a mixture of UK Garage and hip-hop beats with an extremely broad palette of influences, ranging from metal guitars to drill and bass synth lines, eclectic samples and even Japanese court music.^[11] Dizzee Rascal also makes extensive use of un-coupled octuplets and double and triple couplets in his machine-gun-paced staccato lyrics. Like most grime artists, he uses "beats born of ringtones, video games and staticky pirate-radio sounds"^[12] Dizzee's tracks are traditional grime in that the beats are often asymmetrical and make it difficult to dance to his music. His vocal performance is also distinctive; he uses a fast style of rapping which blends elements from garage MCing, conventional rap, grime and ragga. He raps about the same issues a confused generation of youth tends to; broken family, faithless mentors and a lack of support.^[13] Dizzee's videos are similar to many grime and garage artists in the UK. They are frenetic and fast, often matching the speed of the rapping; this is especially visible in the videos to "Fix Up, Look Sharp" and "I Luv U". Although his fast style of rapping and his subject matter are nothing more than ordinary in the UK, Dizzee Rascal's diversity nonetheless separates him from other UK rappers. In his song "Brand New Day", Dizzee Rascal used "flat, punching out riddims into cheap PC software, beats born of ringtones, video games, and staticky pirate-radio sounds".^[13] He is able to change his sound of music completely, by using a different processor. In "Jus' a Rascal", he uses "T.O.K.'s hysterical dancehall harmonies, a synthesised guitar line halfway between death metal and English Beat, stuttering Southern hi-hats and a kick drum retarded to a crawl".^[13]

Dizzee Rascal worked closely with his mentor Wiley, who created one of the first grime tracks, called "Eskimo".^[14] Grime is today still considered underground, despite Dizzee's large mainstream exposure.^[14] Dizzee's DJ, DJ Semtex, says, "the biggest conflict I have is with major labels because they still don’t get it."^[15] Andy Bennett and Jon Stratton highlight in the book Britpop and the English Music Tradition (2010) how Rascal alongside Sway and M.I.A. created music that explored new soundscapes with new technologies, with lyrics expressing anger at Britain's "racialized" subordination of minority groups and that the innovation that generates new musical forms like grime and dubstep that are, inevitably, politically engaged. The chart success of grime-influenced artists like Rascal is heralded as a signal in the way that white Britons are adapting to a new multicultural and plural musical mix in contrast to previous bands.^[16]

Career[link]

Experimenting with his decks and styles, he became an amateur DJ, making occasional appearances on a local pirate radio station. Aged 16, he self-produced his first single, "I Luv U".^[8] In 2002, he jointly formed the Roll Deep Crew, a 13-piece garage collective, with former school friends. Signed by the XL record label, he signed an additional solo deal.^[17]

During his early career, Dizzee worked with his mentor Wiley to create the song 'We Ain't Having It' (which never got released on any albums) and also rapped on some 'Sidewinder' recordings. He made some instrumentals including 'Go' and 'Ho' and 'Streetfighter' which used some music from a video game. Dizzee had beef with fellow grime MC, Crazy Titch, which never really came to an official end. Titch however is now serving life for murder.

After winning a Sidewinder Award for Best Newcomer MC in 2002, in June 2003 the re-recorded and re-produced by Jacob Freitt single I Luv U was released, becoming a Top 30 hit single.

Dizzee was a judge in the Sky1 show Must Be The Music.^[18]

[edit] 2003–2004: Boy in da Corner

Dizzee's first solo album, Boy in da Corner, was released to universal critical acclaim in August 2003, entering the UK Top 40 at #40. The album would peak at #23. In the same week the album was released, while performing with Roll Deep Crew, the rapper was stabbed six times in Ayia Napa.^[3][17] Many tabloids suggested that this event was connected to an apparent feud between Dizzee and garage act So Solid Crew, and his pinching Lisa Maffia's bottom.^[7] After Dizzee was hospitalised, So Solid Crew member "Megaman" – real name Dwayne Vincent – was later questioned about the incident, but was immediately released by Cypriot police.^[19]

	Sittin' here noicon Sample of "Sittin' here".
Problems listening to this file? See media help.

Following the success of single "I Luv U" and the album, the second single from Boy in da Corner was "Fix Up, Look Sharp". The single, released in August 2003, gave Dizzee his first UK Top 20 single and also became the biggest hit from his debut album. In September, Dizzee was awarded the prestigious Mercury Prize for the best album of 2003.^[3] He was the youngest person (at 19) to do so and the second rapper (after Ms. Dynamite the previous year). The album was also chosen as the No. 1 album of the year by Planet Sound.

Along with being picked as the No. 1 album of the year by Planet Sound, Boy in da Corner was also chosen as one of the top 50 albums of the year by Rolling Stone, joining the likes of Kanye West, Mos Def, Eminem, and Jadakiss for 2004.^[20] His unique style, as "words pour out at a high pitch and pace, as if syllables are the only thing that can hold back a scream," have given him a sound that hip hop heads can embrace as something new and original in the hip hop scene.^[12] Later in the year he collaborated with the Basement Jaxx on their third album, Kish Kash on the track "Lucky Star". The track was released as a single in November 2003 and gave Dizzee his third top 30 hit. The third and final single, taken from his debut album, was "Jus' a Rascal", which became his fourth top 30 success. The song was also featured in the film "Kidulthood", released in 2006.

"Jezebel" was never released from the album, but was well received nonetheless, gaining exposure and popularity on the underground scene. The song told the tale of a young London girl, who through years of going to parties, getting drunk, doing drugs and having sex earned herself the title Jezebel. He made his US concert debut on 7 February 2004 at Volume in the Williamsburg section of Brooklyn, New York.

[edit] 2004–2007: Showtime

In 2004, Dizzee Rascal won the NME Award for Innovation. His second album, Showtime, was released in September of the same year, eclipsing the peak of his debut album by entering the UK Albums Chart at #8. The first single from the album, released two weeks earlier in August 2004, was titled Stand Up Tall; it was written and produced by grime producer DJ Youngstar of Pulse-X notoriety.^[21]

The second single "Dream", another top 20 hit, was released in November 2004. It sampled (and used the chorus of) Captain Sensible's song "Happy Talk", originally from the makers of Rodgers and Hammerstein musical, South Pacific. The "Dream" music video consisted of a mock 1950s style children's marionette show depicting scenes corresponding to the lyrics about Dizzee's youth; street culture, crime, single teenage mothers, pirate radio and garage clubs.

Later in 2004, Dizzee Rascal was part of Band Aid 20, a group of British musicians who re-recorded "Do They Know It's Christmas?" He did not sing in the song; rather, he rapped two lines of it ("Spare a thought this yuletide for the deprived, if the table was turned would you survive?" and "You ain't gotta feel guilt just selfless, give a little help to the helpless"). Dizzee Rascal was the first person to add to the song since the original was released; this would mark the first time that Dizzee reached the number one spot in the UK Singles Chart, albeit as part of the ensemble.

In 2004, Dizzee Rascal made an international endorsement deal with urban brand Eckō and designed his own shoe with Nike in 2005.^[3]

In March 2005, the Double A-side single "Off 2 Work" / "Graftin'" was released. "Graftin'" was the third and final single from the Showtime album, whilst "Off 2 Work" was a new track that did not appear on either of his albums. The accompanying music video featured Rascal in various ordinary workplace situations (as a policeman, a fast food vendor, a businessman, etc.) and as Prime Minister, announcing his engagement to Cherie Blair. It would prove to be Dizzee's lowest charting single to date, peaking outside the Top 40 at #44.

[edit] 2007–2009: Maths + English

Dizzee's third album, Maths + English, was released on 4 June 2007. He stated in an interview before the album's release that "Maths" refers to producing, in terms of beats, deals and money^[22] and "English" to writing lyrics.^[23] The first single off this album, Sirens, was released on 21 May.

The album was one of the 12 nominees for the 2007 Mercury Prize, which ultimately went to The Klaxons' album Myths of the Near Future.^[24] During the year, Dizzee worked with cross-genre artist Beck on a remix of the song "Hell Yes", and provided guest vocals on an Arctic Monkeys track, the B-Side to their single "Brianstorm" named "Temptation Greets You Like Your Naughty Friend". Dizzee's version of the same song was featured as "Temptation" on his third album.

The official US album was released on 29 April 2008; it contained two tracks not on the European release, but it did not include the track "Pussyole'". It was Dizzee's first album to be released under the Definitive Jux label.^[25]

In 2008, Dizzee Rascal recorded a song for suicide charity CALM; the song "Dean" was about a friend of Dizzee's who took his own life. In December of that year, he was arrested following an alleged incident involving a baseball bat in southeast London. He was released on bail to return to a police station later in December.^[26]

[edit] 2009–2012: Tongue N' Cheek

Dizzee Rascal performing at the 2009 Ilosaarirock festival.

Dizzee Rascal released his fourth studio album, Tongue N' Cheek, on 21 September 2009. It included his four number-one hits "Dance Wiv Me", "Holiday", "Bonkers" (with Armand Van Helden) and "Dirtee Disco". Its release was announced on Friday Night with Jonathan Ross, where Dizzee Rascal revealed some details about the album, including track information and production. Dizzee recently confirmed in an interview on Radio One, that he would be leaving his grime roots behind, in favour of more mainstream pop; however a new collaboration with drum and bass artists "Chase & Status" titled, "Heavy" begs to differ. In the track Dizzee himself says, "Grime had a little time without me still no grime without me, No life without me, no risky roads, no grime daily" assuring his return to grime. On 23 May 2008, Calvin Harris, whom he collaborated with on the number-one smash "Dance Wiv Me", revealed on his Twitter that he was producing a Dizzee track; at the Evolution Festival, Newcastle, and when on tour supporting The Prodigy, he confirmed that two new singles called "Road Rage" and "Dirtee Cash", both of which featured on the album, would be released. "Dirtee Cash" peaked at No. 10 and Road Rage was never released as a single.

On 16 February at the 30th annual Brit Awards Dizzee Rascal won the award for Best British Male. He later performed a mash-up entitled "You Got the Dirtee Love" with Florence and the Machine. This collaboration was released as a charity single the following day and peaked at number 2 in the UK charts.

On 31 May 2010 Dizzee re-released the album Tongue N' Cheek with a few new tracks on including a song called "Dirtee Disco" which was released on 24 May 2010. The track went to number 1 on the UK Singles Chart

In August 2010, it was revealed that he was to collaborate with Colombian popstar Shakira on the English version of "Loca", the lead single of her album Sale el Sol. He stated that "I know it sounds a bit mad now, but you'll see it and see what's going on, it's me doing something different man, on a merengue tip."^[27] On the week of 14 October 2010, Dizzee made his first appearance on the US Billboard Hot 100 after the song peaked number 32. However, The UK release was cancelled.

On 6 February 2011, it was announced Dizzee would support the Red Hot Chili Peppers at their Knebworth House show in the Summer.^[28]

[edit] 2012–present: DirteeTV.com and Fifth studio album

On New Year's Day 2012, Dizzee Rascal released DirteeTV.com alongside the Newham Generals, D Double E and Footsie. The 25-track mixtape was released as a free download, and included features from fellow rappers JME, Kano, Scrufizzer, Example, Rapid, Chronik, Hyper and Smurfie Syco. The mixtape featured tracks by Rascal both new and old.

Dizzee Rascal has signed a deal that will see him release his fifth studio album on Island Records. When speaking on the record he was quoted saying that he has "no plans" to ditch his commercial music. He described the sound as "worldly but fun". He also confirmed he is in talks with Calvin Harris to collaborate again. He is also expected to have a collaboration with Snoop Dogg on either his new album or Snoop Dogg's new album 'Reincarnated'.^[29] He has also stated he has a track produced by house DJ Erick Morillo and has also worked on tracks with Drum & Bass and Dubstep producer DJ Fresh for his own album. Their first collaboration The Power is set to be the third single from Fresh's third studio album, released in September 2012.

Personal life[link]

In February 2008 Rascal's ex girlfriend, model Kaya Bousquet, whom he had dated for two years, died in a high speed crash on the M1 motorway; Dizzee was said to be "devastated".^[30][31]

Rascal revealed in 2010 that he plans not to use drugs or alcohol at all in the future. He told The Independent: "I'm not having any alcohol. No weed. I'm not doing anything – except some boxing to release energy."^[32]

Mills supports West Ham United.^[33]

Politics[link]

Around 2004, UK newspapers were quoting one particular lyric by Dizzee Rascal – "I'm a problem for Anthony Blair".^[13]

During the 2008 US presidential elections, Dizzee gave a live interview to Newsnight presenter Jeremy Paxman, in which he described Barack Obama as "an immediate symbol of unity". Addressed by Paxman as "Mr Rascal" at one point, he suggested that hip-hop played an important part in encouraging young voters and humorously opined that he could well one day become Prime Minister. In the same interview Rascal stated that, "If you believe you can achieve, innit," thus showing his agreement with Paxman's humorous remark.^[34]

Dirtee Stank[link]

Dizzee Rascal has created his own record label, called Dirtee Stank. Dizzee Rascal's explanation of the name is, "The name came from one of the first lyrics I had: 'going on dirty/going on stank…' So I thought 'yeah, Dirtee Stank.'"^[35] Dizzee has stated "I had Dirtee Stank before I had my record deal."^[35] The first white label release of "I Luv U" was made on Dirtee Stank, released when he was 16,^[36] although both of his albums and their subsequent singles have been released under XL Recordings. It was not until, 30 September 2005, that Dizzee Rascal 'revived' the label and made his first signings, Klass A,^[37] and Newham Generals. The label's MySpace page states that the ethos of the company is "about bridging the gap between indie, majors and the street. Stank is the way forwards". The label's alternative logo is a picture of flies circling faeces – when asked why this logo was chosen, Dizzee stated that it was the "streetest thing I could think of".^[35]

The label was formed and is owned by Dizzee Rascal, and is co-run by Dizzee's manager, Cage, Label Manager, Laurence Ezra, Tour Manager Paddy Stewart & Executive Producer Teriy Keys. According to Cage, Dirtee Stank exists to promote gifted artists with "social problems" that might scare off other labels. "People who, through the conditions they live in, might not be stable."^[37] The label should also help artists overcome hurdles such as access to studios that "take something from a raw demo to something people will get excited about on the street".

The single "Dance Wiv Me", featuring UK electro artist Calvin Harris and RnB artist Chrome, was released through the label on 7 July 2008; the track became Jo Whiley's Pet Sound for the Week beginning 2 June 2008, thus gaining a large amount of radio airtime. The single charted at Number 1 on download sales alone, a week before its physical release. Dizzee's next two singles, "Bonkers" and "Holiday", were also released under the record label, and these two again charted at Number 1. Dizzee then released his 4th album on the label (Tongue N' Cheek) which along with three number ones spawned the top 10 hit Dirtee Cash.

As of August 2011 the Newham Generals (D Double E & Footsie), Smurfie Syco and Pepper are signed to the label.^[38]

In November 2011, Dizzee Rascal and Dirtee Stank Recordings signed a multi-million dollar recording and distribution deal for all artist under the Dirtee Stank banner, music will be released on the Island imprint.

Discography[link]

• 2003: Boy in da Corner
• 2004: Showtime
• 2007: Maths + English
• 2009: Tongue N' Cheek

In video games[link]

In PlayStation Home, the PlayStation 3's online community-based service, there was an event dedicated for Dizzee Rascal in the VIP Room of the SingStar themed game space that ran from 24 September 2009 to 9 October 2009.^[39] Dizzee performed for the PS Home/SingStar community and answered questions for an hour after the performance. There were also limited time items at this space like a Dizzee Mask. This was available to the European and North American versions of PlayStation Home, however, Dizzee only appeared in the European version answering questions.^[40] There is also a SongPack on the SingStore for SingStar that include six of Dizzee's tracks.

Dizzee's track "Stand Up Tall" is featured in the 2005 video game FIFA Street.

"Fix Up, Look Sharp" is featured in the 2009 video game DJ Hero and in the United Kingdom version of the 2010 video game Def Jam Rapstar.

"Bonkers" is featured in the 2010 video game DJ Hero 2.

Awards and nominations[link]

• Mercury Prize
  • 2003 (Won)
• NME Award
  • 2004, Innovation (Won)
• Urban Music Awards
  • 2009, Best Male (Won)
• BRIT Awards
  • 2010, Best British Male (Won)^[41]
• BET Awards
  • 2010, Best International Act (Won)

References[link]

External links[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Dizzee Rascal

• Dizzee Rascal at the Internet Movie Database
• Dizzee Rascal on Myspace
• Official website
• Dizzee Rascal News at the XL Recordings home page