Top 109 Quotes & Sayings by Dizzee Rascal - Page 2

I actually really like DJ Assault - a Detroit a ghetto tech DJ, who's produced good music that's influenced me a bit.

I was making grime before anyone else.

London's where I grew up and had most of my experiences.

Some people will never let the grime thing go, but my fifth album is not meant to sound like my first album.

I think there's loads of undiagnosed depression where I came from. Post-traumatic stress disorder as well. Some of the things you see as a kid are like the things you'd expect to see in a war zone, but there's no one to talk to about it because running to a psychiatrist ain't the thing.

I'm not afraid to embrace different music and different culture and put it in the music.

All that really moves me is music.

My London is racy. Hyper. Unpredictable. Uncontrollable. Er. Intense.

People who criticise me are just jealous.

In each genre, I've been around the biggest. In pop I toured with Justin Timberlake, with reggae it was Sean Paul; I toured with Jay-Z and the Red Hot Chili Peppers. It's all an education for me, to see how they do it.

There's a real gun culture in the U.K., for those who don't know. It's very real.

There's so much to London, so many different kinds of people and people are the key to life, but my favourite part? It's got to be Bow, where I come from.

I like staying in. I'm that kind of guy.

I learned to MC over drum 'n' bass music.

I don't like to be picked on. Growing up where I did you learn to fight.

As a kid, I felt I had it bad - and people where I came from did - but if I'd been in a similar position in America, it could've been 10 times worse. We have the NHS. We don't have slums like I've seen in the Deep south, or shocking intolerance.

When I was growing up, it was 'All Eyes On Me' by Tupac and 'Doggy Style' by Snoop Dogg. I've met Snoop and he's the best. They say you shouldn't meet your idol - that definitely doesn't apply to him.

I see all that celebrity stuff now as whatever, man. What's more important is that everyday people are liking my music, it's got to that stage. I've worked really hard for a long time for it to come to this point, where I'm putting smiles on people's faces, and I'm loving it.

I'm not gonna lie; I don't always like everything about Bow and I don't always like everyone in Bow and they don't always like me but on the whole I love where I come from. I'm proud of where I come from and I'm proud to represent that area.

I was a drum 'n' bass DJ at first but not any one of note.

My first school is gone - turned into flats.

The world's a jungle in my eyes, innit? Everything's tribal. If you see someone who don't look like you - especially the colour of your skin - you're going to be suspicious, or not as welcoming or warming, innit? I've learned not to take it too personal.

No one can establish what selling out is.

I'm not really going to defend anyone's lyrics.

Grime 4 Corbyn? I just don't know what I'm supposed to feel about that - does he even listen to grime?

NME is normally associated with indie rock. It ain't something I read as a kid.

I got an A for music and it was at school that I learned to build a beat.

In Miami, there's a buzz there, everyone out there's partying - it's crazy.

Everything kind of happened like: 'Bam!' for me. One minute I was living on a council estate somewhere, then I won the Mercurys, then all of a sudden press and people were in my face.

There's things that I say that people wouldn't say. And just putting across my vulnerability as a person in my music as well. A lot of people wouldn't do that, everyone wants to be hard.

I'd done plenty of dark stuff and edgy stuff and hardcore stuff, and I kind of found that stuff easy.

I take risks.

People classify things and that's fair enough. But if somebody wants to make something different, that doesn't make them any less of an artist.

When you're doing things like Glastonbury main stage, and there's 80,000 people and your hits are going off, it's at those moments you sit back and breathe and take it in, man, cos it might never happen again.

No U.K. rapper has been in my position; there are loads of big rappers like Tinie Tempah or Skepta, but no one has done what I have: had mainstream success with underground music and pop music.

I grew up on the pirate radio scene which started out as drum 'n' bass music. U.K. garage picked up and got bigger on the back end of that.

My fans are lunatics. I encourage mosh pits, I encourage lunacy, I make music to let go to.

Sometimes you might get inspired by something, write about it, then later that lyrics sounds better on another beat. That's happened a few times. Like 'Dance Wiv Me' - those lyrics didn't start on that beat.

There's a lot going on music-wise in L.A. It's a wicked place to wake up, there's sunshine, you go to the studio, see all these really talented producers.

I always want to make people dance so there'll always be an element of dance in my music.

The important thing for me is that I try to understand the culture. Everything I thought I knew about the country was either through TV, music, movies or hopping in and out when I did shows. You can't just get the US through being in Miami, LA and New York. Middle America is the place to understand real America.

You can find out a lot sitting in the barber's.

Other than my Instagram - very recently - I'm not out there. I'm not in the papers every week, I've managed to curb all that. I've never turned up at a party just to be snapped. It's not my kind of thing.

There wouldn't be no grime without me.

I just know that he's Robbie Williams - he's massive, that's all I know! He nailed it. Working in the studio with him was cool. I got there at about six in the afternoon and then stayed until six in the morning. We only worked for like two hours, the rest of the time we were just chilling out the back. The way Robbie handles everything... he's a star, but there were never any pretensions, no ego. He put effort in.

Grunge, like Nirvana and all that. Heavy metal, Iron Maiden, Metallica, Guns and Roses, drum and bass. I like to listen to it and try and break down what makes a fan of that music say 'Ah fuck that other music', do you get me? Trying to figure out what makes them tick, I always try and break that down with every piece of music. But the energy in that music, I love it.

There's just something about being English. When you travel the world you feel more grateful.

I'm trying to give people the chance to put out their music without the bullshit pressures of other labels.

I found it easy to produce. I'm not the musical guy. I can't read and play music like that, but put some drums and a sample in front of me and I can whip it up nice, and I'll work out some keys and find some interesting instruments to put under it.