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Dizzee: First Music Was Nirvana Cover
The Quietus , August 1st, 2008 18:47

Dizzee

Current UK number one chart topping mighty man Dizzee Rascal has revealed that his first ever musical ejaculation was playing Nirvana covers in a school band.

Our pals downstairs at Drownedinsound asked the man Rascal if he could recall the first time he rapped, to which he replied: "Before I even rapped I played in school concerts – one year I played a Nirvana song on guitar, and the next I played drums on another song. Another year I’d play keyboards on a drum and bass version of that Pulp Fiction song. Rock music was a big part of my life – Nirvana, Iron Maiden, Guns N’ Roses, Korn... Nirvana were probably the main one.

"So I was performing before I was rapping, but the first time I rapped…? I remember my friend Robert Benham – we called him Blinky – did a beat-box in front of the class and I did a little rap… we must’ve been nine. I’ve always been into this shit. Do you remember those little things you’d strap onto your arm, and when you threw a punch it made a noise?

No… I might be a little too old [said DiS, we're supposed to be the old boys]

"Oh, well, these things – they made a noise, and back in the day we’d rap over them."

So you’d use whatever was at your disposal to make beats?

"Yeah, back then we would just fuck around with things, and rap over things. Any little thing I could find to make music with, I was always into it. So maybe it was always going to happen, thinking about it."

You can read the full interview with Dizzee Rascal over at DrownedInSound.