Though he hails from England, Dizzee Rascal doesn't sound like he comes from anywhere in particular. The nineteen-year-old MC, winner of this year's prestigious British Mercury Prize for his debut album, Boy in Da Corner, has a nasal buckshot-spray flow that sounds like Busta Rhymes channeling Jello Biafra. His beats are almost impossible to pin down -- he combines a love of bottom-end-heavy U.K. dance styles such as jungle with Miami Bass, Dirty South gangsta grooves and raw rock attitude (the sound has been appropriately labeled "grimy" by critics). His track "Fix Up, Look Sharp" even mashes Billy Squier's cock-rock classic "The Big Beat" with old-school panache. "That beat is the essence of hip-hop," says Rascal. "It's universal."

The ghetto claustrophobia captured on Boy reflects the MC's youth in London's East End. Rascal (born Dylan Mills) was raised by Nigerian parents in housing projects where "eight-millimeters settle debates," as he notes on "Brand New Day." Violence has trailed the rapper: As recently as last year, he was stabbed five times while on vacation in Cyprus. "That incident had nothing to do with music," he says. "But I'm not new to violence."

Rascal would often skip classes to hang out in his school's music room -- he earned his moniker from one of his vexed teachers. But Rascal was on to something: He worked on his first underground hit, "I Luv You," using the school's simple computer equipment.

Despite his U.K. success, Rascal is most excited about conquering the U.S. He viewed his recent visit to New York as a pilgrimage to the hometown of his "favorite living rapper," Jay-Z. Rascal actually opened for his idol when he was seventeen, at London's Wembley Stadium in front of tens of thousands of fans. "I was watching him do what I had just done, but on a bigger scale," says Rascal. "What I learned is that one day I could stand in that spot."

MATT DIEHL
(February 25, 2004)