When the world shut down last year during the COVID-19 lockdowns, many of us found banana bread recipes, Zoom exhaustion, or an addiction to a new streaming service. But the pandemic brought a very different pivot for Dizzee Rascal, the godfather of grime and Mercury Prize-winning rapper. And it wasn't a secret mixtape or a surprise feature, but Dizzee Rascal was trained as a qualified plasterer.
In a new interview with the presenter of Fix Radio, the student-run digital-only radio station, Dizzee casually dropped the bombshell that during the calm chaos of lockdown, he ditched the studio booth, picked up a tool belt, and passed a City and Guilds Certificate in plastering. "I studied plastering for however long," he said, clearly downplaying the revelation's pure randomness and impressiveness. "I had a certificate and everything."
The idea of Dizzee troweling walls while wearing overalls is funny and oddly inspiring for an artist whose vocal against cemented labels is still heard by many UK hip-hop and grime fans today. But the reason, according to the man himself, was simple: "I needed to learn to do stuff."
What's all the more fun is how low-key he stayed about it. Dizzee, one of the biggest names in British music, said he had somehow flown under the radar for several weeks in class. "At the end, there was a couple of dudes; I've been with them for weeks," he remembered. "They were like, 'Hey, oh my God, it's you, hey man, he's rich man, he's famous man.
Picture yourself learning for weeks how to finesse drywall next to one of grime's pioneers and only ever finding out when he's packing away his toolkit.
Of course, Dizzee wasn't intending to retire the microphone for good. In late 2024, he returned to music with a roar, releasing a surprise EP, "I Invented Grime." The BOLD and EMPOWED statement title of it is the EP is an in-your-face thunderous and empowering his legendary legacy. The EP came after Don't Take It Personal, his eighth album, proving that despite temporarily moving into the creation arts at school, Dizzee hasn't missed a step in ruffling the grime scene's feathers.
Fans also marked the 15th anniversary of 'Tongue N' Cheek" last year, the album that gave us glorious bangers such as "Bonkers" and "Dance Wiv Me." And let us not overlook Boy In Da Corner, the 2003 debut that ignited the grime bonfire and set it within the purview of the mainstream.
Dizzee Rascal, from reinventing grime to reinventing himself to having a certificate in plastering, has always surprised us. Whether he clutches a mic or a trowel, one fact is apparent: this man knows something about leaving a lasting impression.
0 Comments