DIZZEE RASCAL

Brings out the girls from Richmond

By CHRIS FARAONE

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On my first day at the South by Southwest music conference last March, I got a phone call from Dizzee Rascal's publicist asking permission to push my interview with the British rap behemoth back from 6pm to 9pm. "That's perfectly cool with me," I said, "so long as he doesn't mind me being donkey-wasted when we do the interview." "I'm sure that won't be a problem," she laughed.

I arrived at Dizzee's hotel with enough spare time to freshen up in the lobby bathroom, and after squeezing out some southern barbeque, splashing my face and tonguing more Listerine Breath Strips than recommended, I elevated to his fifth floor room. I didn't mind being drunk, but if I was going to fumble words I at least wanted to tame the dragon and keep beer farts to a minimum.

Until transcribing my interview with Dizzee last week, I didn't realize how embarrassing the experience actually was. In the span of a 10-minute interview I managed to ask him twice if he had previously been to Texas and three times what it felt like to be mainstream back home and fringe stateside. Even worse: In four instances I inquired about why his new album, Maths+English, sounds so different from his old shit.

"Get your drunk ass out of my room," Dizzee said, three-quarters jokingly, at the end of our talk. "Really—you must have got enough answers because you keep asking the same questions."

The interview was doomed about two minutes in. Earlier that day I'd met a gang of British hip-hop writers who prepped me with a question that only someone who's intimate with contemporary British hip-hop and socioeconomic boundaries would ask: "How come at your Shepherds Bush gig the crowd was full of girls from Richmond?" (Translation: How come at your Roxbury gig the crowd was full of girls from Newton?). But instead of calling my bluff or complimenting my worldly knowledge, Dizzee responded matter-of-factly.

"The kids are much younger than me now—they're 16 or 17 or something and I'm the in thing," he said. "I can't do nothing with them backstage as far as groupie action though—I just go straight home after the shows."

About five minutes of my Dizzee interview was useful. We discussed his new sound ("a lot of it is that deep underground drum and bass"); his current stature in the UK ("I'm probably Jay-Z where I come from"); and how it's possible that American critics adore him so when they have but half a clue what he's saying ("there are some similarities that people can relate to, but other than that I just guess they like the banging beat").

Finally, for my last question, I broke out a scripted masterpiece so remarkably researched and deep in background that I was sure it would leave a lasting impression about the type of reporter that I am: "How come at your Shepherds Bush gig the crowd was full of girls from Richmond?"

DIZZEE RASCAL

W/ EL-P, DJ MR. DIBBS

THE MIGHTY QUINN,

DJ AARON LACRATE

AND BUSDRIVER

SUN 5.11

MIDDLE EAST DOWNSTAIRS

480 MASS AVE.,

CENTRAL SQ.

CAMBRIDGE

617.864.3278.

9PM/18+/$22

MIDEASTCLUB.COM