Dizzee Rascal
photo: achim raschka (talk) · cc by-sa 4.0 ↗Dylan Kwabena Mills grew up on a Bow council estate, the Nigerian-Ghanaian son of a single mother, and self-produced his first single "I Luv U" at sixteen before signing to XL Recordings. His 2003 debut Boy in da Corner won the Mercury Prize — the second rap album ever to do so — and its jittery, industrial-edged production made him grime's first true breakout star, though he later crossed fully into pop with a run of UK number-one singles.
Wiley mentored a teenage Dizzee Rascal through the Pay As U Go Cartel and Roll Deep, and instrumentals like "Eskimo" gave Dizzee the sparse, off-kilter template he rapped over on his earliest tracks.
listen forPlay "Eskimo" next to "I Luv U": both build tension from bare, clattering rhythm rather than melody, leaving huge negative space around the vocal.
Dizzee Rascal has said he grew up on crunk acts like Three 6 Mafia and Lil Jon, and their horror-movie synths and dark, chant-heavy hooks fed into the industrial menace of Boy in da Corner.
listen forCompare "Tear da Club Up '97" to "Fix Up, Look Sharp": both pile on ominous synth stabs and gang-vocal hooks until the track feels like a threat.
Dizzee Rascal has cited Black Sabbath among his formative influences alongside grunge and Timbaland's production; that heavy, doom-laden weight surfaces in the grinding, sub-bass-driven production Dizzee and his collaborators built Boy in da Corner on.
listen forPlay "Paranoid" against "Jus' a Rascal": both ride a heavy, relentless low end that never lets up, just aimed at a different genre entirely.