Fresh from his game-changing debut album, Boy in Da Corner in 2003, Dizzee Rascal was enlisted as a supporting act for Justin Timberlake's UK arena tour. Even though he was widely credited with bringing the underground grime movement to the UK mainstream – Dizzee Rascal had to figure out how to translate its whirring energy and dense wordplay into a dynamic live show.
"It was my first proper exposure to a crowd bigger and different to mine, not to mention the rare chance of playing in such a big room like Wembley Arena," he recalls ahead of his Dubai show at the P7 Arena on Thursday.
"It made me understand the importance of making some music that was a bit wider – if you know what I mean. I was finding when touring with Timberlake that the crowd were happy and gassed to have me there, but if I am just standing there and spitting 23 bars of lyrics at them and there isn’t much for them to hook into musically, what I am doing is more of an exhibition than a show."
It was a lesson Rascal, real name Dylan Mills, took to heart over the following two decades, resulting in more expansive songs such as Holiday and Bassline Junkie, incorporating styles such as dancehall and electro without sacrificing the gruffness and visceral energy of grime.
The most potent example remains 2008’s Dance Wiv Me, a collaboration with burgeoning producer-turned-EDM superstar Calvin Harris. The track can be seen as a pivotal moment in grime’s commercial crossover with mainstream pop and dance music. While fellow innovative UK artists Wiley, Kano and Skepta were pushing the genre forward, Dance Wiv Me showcased its mainstream potential, topping the UK charts and becoming a mainstay in Ibiza clubs, thanks to various remixes.
Rascal says crafting the song was an eye-opening experience.
"By that time, I had been to Ibiza and understood the club environment there – something I hadn’t before, because all I knew was London and what was happening there," he says.
"I remember my label at the time didn’t want me to go in that direction, but my deal with them was up, so I could do what I wanted. The song just felt like a natural progression. A lot of people underestimate what it takes to make a big pop track. They see it as corny or cheesy, but it’s not that simple. I can make a grime track with my eyes closed because that’s second nature to me, but creating a track that crosses over requires a lot of work – and, at times, collaboration.”
While other artists, such as J Hus and AJ Tracey, took that direction further – sometimes derisively labeled grime-pop – Rascal remains content with where the genre stands, comparing its evolution to jazz, another genre that grew from humble beginnings.
"I don’t even think it’s diluted," he says. "Sometimes people get confused. You have artists known for grime making commercial music, but outsiders don’t always separate the two," he adds. "But I’ve always seen grime as existing beyond just the songs – it has its own culture. In a way, it’s similar to jazz, where you have artists like Quincy Jones creating huge commercial tracks while, at the same time, Miles Davis could just play the trumpet into oblivion. That doesn’t make one better than the other; they each have their own space."
Rascal has been steadily carving his own path, despite a near permanent setback – in 2022, he was convicted of assaulting his former partner, with whom he shares a daughter and a son, after an argument at a UK property.
Rebuilding his career again with a new album, 2024's solid Don't Take It Personal and the four-song EP I Invented Grime, he says the coming European tour in April will find him focusing on what he does best. "It will be high energy and I am bringing the production," he says. "I want people to come and have a good time and just bring the vibes. Just be loose and let me do the rest."
Dizzee Rascal performs on Thursday at P7 Arena, Dubai. Doors open 9pm; tickets start at Dh195
