BBC Radio 1Xtra

BBC Radio 1Xtra (also known simply as 1Xtra) is a digital radio station in the United Kingdom from the BBC specialising in 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 the 8th floor of New Broadcasting House, shared with Radio 1 and the Asian Network. The current station controller is Ben Cooper, who took over from predecessor Andy Parfitt on 28 October 2011.

Music policy

Typical music includes largely British and North American hip hop, grime, bassline, garage, dubstep, drum and bass, UK funky, house, 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.

Dizzee Rascal

Dylan Kwabena Mills (born 18 September 1984), better known by his stage name Dizzee Rascal, is an English rapper, songwriter, singer, and record producer. His music spans grime, UK garage, bassline, British hip hop, and R&B. Best known for his number-one hits "Dance wiv Me", "Bonkers", "Holiday", "Dirtee Disco", and "Shout", his debut album Boy in da Corner is considered a grime classic and earned him the 2003 Mercury Prize. Follow-up albums Showtime, Maths + English, and Tongue n' Cheek have been critically acclaimed and certified gold, with Tongue n' Cheek going platinum for sales exceeding 300,000 units in the United Kingdom.

Early life

Rascal was born in London. His Nigerian father died when Rascal was young, and he was raised in Bow, 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."

Lethal Bizzle

Maxwell Ansah (born 14 September 1984), known by his stage name Lethal Bizzle, is an English rapper and actor, best known for his singles "Pow! (Forward)" and "Fester Skank". He was born to Ghanaian parents.

Career

In December 2004, he released the single "Pow (Forward)", also known as "Forward Riddim" which was banned from airplay by some mainstream radio stations. 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. In 2011, he had a cameo in the Adam Deacon film Anuvahood, knocking him out in the opening scene. He had a feud with N-Dubz over intellectual property rights citing emails of hooks he had sent Tulisa. N Dubz members Tulisa and Dappy responded with foul-mouthed attacks. Bizzle later started a successful T-shirt business with his cousin and footballer Emmanuel Frimpong, featuring his catchphrase "Dench". Since then he has been very successful branching out to his fans on Snapchat, that has led him to create the hit song 'Rari Workout'. In 2012, he appeared in the BBC Three comedy drama, Bad Education in which he competed in a rap battle with the headmaster.

Wretch 32

Jermaine Scott Sinclair (born 9 March 1985), better known by his stage name Wretch 32 (three-two), is an English rapper and former Grime MC from Tottenham, London where he grew up the son of a local reggae DJ in the Tiverton Estate. He was a member of the grime collective "Combination Chain Gang", before forming The Movement with Scorcher, Ghetts, and Mercston. Wretch released his first single "Traktor" in January 2011.

2009 Mp3 Music Awards announced that Wretch 32 was nominated for an Mp3 Award alongside Chipmunk and Haringey Independent and Channel U / Channel AKA published the story.

On 6 December 2010, the BBC also announced that Wretch 32 had been nominated for the BBC's Sound of 2011 poll and MTV named him as a nominee for MTV Brand New for 2011.

In 2011, Wretch 32 had three top-five charting songs from debut album Black and White and amassed over a million record sales. In 2012 he was used by both Adidas and Coca Cola as one of the main faces of their London 2012 Olympics campaigns and on 1 July 2012 he won 'Best International Act' at the 2012 BET Awards.

Newham Generals

Newham Generals are an English grime crew from East London, currently consisting of MCs D Double E and Footsie and DJ MS1. The crew is named after Newham General Hospital.

They are best known for their singles Frontline, Hard and Like It Or Not as well as their live performances. The group was founded in 2004, after D Double E had a disagreement with fellow members N.A.S.T.Y Crew. The crew made regular appearances on pirate label and released a number of singles on white label vinyl, the group was signed to Dizzee Rascal's Dirtee Stank record label in 2005, after D Double E showed Dirtee Stank a CD of the groups work, and promptly released a mix CD on the label in 2006 entitled The Best of Newham Generals Vol. 1. Founding member Monkstar left the group, and music, in 2007 to follow religion. The group released their debut album Generally Speaking on Dirtee Stank three in April 2009 which was their last release to feature Monkstar and an EP Bag of Grease the following year, as well as various solo projects. Dizzee Rascal idolised D Double E as an MC in his youth.