BBC Radio 1Xtra is a digital radio station in the United Kingdom from the BBC specialising in new black music, sometimes referred to as urban music. Launched at 18:00 on 16 August 2002, it had been codenamed Network X during the consulation period and is the sister station to BBC Radio 1. The station is broadcast from a dedicated building shared with Radio 1, Yalding House in central London, part of the BBC's sprawling Broadcasting House complex of radio studios and offices. The current station controller is Ben Cooper, who took over from predecessor Andy Parfitt on 28 October 2011.

Typical music includes largely British and North American hip hop, grime, bassline, garage, dubstep, drum and bass, UK funky, dancehall, soca, reggae, gospel music, bhangra and R&B. It is available on digital radio (DAB), digital satellite television, digital terrestrial television (Freeview), and the Internet. The first ever track played on 1Xtra was a specially created track produced by DJ Skitz and Rodney P and featuring Beverley Knight and Blak Twang. The show was presented by the Rampage DJ collective and the station's then breakfast show host, Female DJ KC.

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. 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.

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.

Lethal Bizzle, also known as Lethal Big Lips. (born Maxwell Ansah, 14 September 1984 in Walthamstow, London, England), is a Ghanaian British rapper. His songs are known to satirise modern gangsta rap; much of the humour comes from the adoption of hip-hop style and language. In December 2004, he released the single "Pow (Forward)", also known as "Forward Riddim" which was banned from airplay by some mainstream radio stations.^{[citation needed]} It entered the UK Singles Chart at number 11 in its first week on the chart in 2005, and it reached number one on the UK Dance Chart. He won a MOBO for "Pow (Forward)" as 'Best Single', and was nominated at the same awards as 'Best Newcomer'.

Earlier he was a part of the group More Fire Crew. In 2002, their track "Oi!" reached the Top 10 of the UK Singles Chart. In early July 2005, Lethal Bizzle appeared on stage at the final Live 8 concert in Edinburgh and was a part of the NME Rock N Roll Riot Tour in 2007.

He was number five in the NME Cool list 2007/2008 beating Amy Winehouse, Pete Doherty and Alex Turner.