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In the News
( 2 stories between 7th July 2008 and 21st July 2010 )Dizzee Rascal Among Mercury's Best Of British 2010
Jul, 21 2010
Seven years ago Dizzee Rascal was an unknown London teenager who released a debut album that caught everybody by surprise. Boy In Da Corner won Britain's prestigious Mercury Music Prize and was hailed as a mainstream breakthrough for the hip-hop sub-genre grime. It took other grime artists a few years to catch up, while Dizzee became the UK's most popular rapper with four No.1 singles.
Unsurprisingly, his most recent album Tongue N Cheek has been nominated for the 2010 Mercury Prize and it's being touted as the early favorite to win. But Dizzee is now more of a chart star than a critic's darling, so the resolutely cool award will probably go elsewhere. London trio The XX are joint-favorites thanks to their masterfully atmospheric debut xx, while young folk singer Laura Marling is also a strong contender thanks to second album I Speak Because I Can.
But last year's victor was rank outsider Speech Debelle, reinforcing the prize's reputation for springing surprises. This year's more obscure nominations include Irish group Villagers and jazz pianist Kit Downes, but keep an eye on Manchester band I Am Kloot, close associates of 2008 winners Elbow.
Dizzee Rascal
Jul, 7 2008
Grime has hit the big time: London rapper Dizzee Rascal, whose debut album Boy in da Corner was hailed as a breakthrough for the burgeoning British hip-hop sub-genre grime, has finally become a household name with a No.1 hit single in the main UK singles chart. Dance Wiv Me, which features Scottish electro-pop singer Calvin Harris, knocked Ne-Yo's Closer off top spot after just one week. Boy in da Corner won the prestigious Mercury Music Prize in 2003, but before now Dizzee's biggest chart success had been a No.10 hit, Stand Up Tall, from second album Showtime.
