Understandably, the expectations surrounding Rascal’s forthcoming sophomore album are high, but speaking with the calm, collected, and exceptionally gifted artists, you’d hardly know it, “I don’t feel no pressure from people. Sonically the album shows progression, and vocally and lyrically it also shows progression, so I have no doubts in my mind about whether it will match up with what people are expecting. There’ll be no disappointment.” Titled ‘Show Time’ and due out in August, Dizzee is incredibly secretive about the album’s sound. It’s not particularly surprising that he’d take this approach, especially considering ‘Boy In Da Corner’s inimitable sound.

Dizzee Rascal’s heritage is rooted deep in the London underground, rising to notoriety through pirate radio. His unique sound sees influences ranging from drum & bass, hip-hop, garage, and 2-step, to the electro/hip-hop hybrid genre crunk, “Drum & bass is one of my first loves. I used to love it so much, and I still do to an extent. I really love hip-hop, and I listen to crunk as well. I can tolerate near most any type of music, and appreciate it for what it is.” Dizzee’s acceptance of a wide range of music has been one of the keys to his success, particularly when combined with his affective and idiosyncratic method of vocal delivery.

Casting his mind back to the days when he was able to head out to a club or rave unimpeded, Rascal gets a little nostalgic, “Drum & bass… Oh man, believe me, I’ve never got a bad thing to say about the drum & bass scene. They have the best raves in England, with the best vibe, everything. That’s all you want isn’t it? Just to have fun. I haven’t been to one of those raves for a long time, I’ve been doing my own shows and concerts, or had my head stuck in recording the album, just doing what I’ve got to do. I’d love to get back out there and see what’s going on though.”

Although Dizzee’s unique style encompasses a variety of genres, he’s been made somewhat of a figurehead for the UK garage scene. A style of music often maligned by the UK media for its association with violence and criminal behaviour, Dizzee is sage when speaking on the plight faced by the garage scene, “I think that the media can only go so deep into it, but what they have to realise is that if people have problems with each other they’re going to settle it, whether it be at McDonalds, in the street, at a club, wherever they run into each other. It’s not about the music.”

Although Dizzee’s triumph in the 2003 Mercury Music Prize came as somewhat of a shock to some, when surveying past winners of the sought-after award it’s not so surprising, previous recipients including Ms Dynamite and Roni Size & Reprazent. That being said, no one was more taken aback by the coup than Dizzee, “Yeah I was definitely surprised. Two years before I won it I couldn’t have even told you what the Mercury Music Prize was. But winning the award, it made me look credible, it gave me credibility in people’s eyes. It’s such a sought after award, very prestigious, so it’s quite an honour to win it.”

Winning the Mercury Music Prize also gave Rascal a much broader platform for his music, broadening his audience beyond the underground London garage and pirate radio scene and into the mainstream charts, “It took me away from just being an underground, grimy, garage artist. It made me a credible artist and opened up my music to a much larger audience. It’s natural to want as many people as possible to be into what you do, so I don’t have a problem with it. It’s what I want to achieve.”

The lyrical content of Rascal’s songs are rather astounding when considering his age. A mere 19 years old when ‘Boy In Da Corner’ was released mid-way through 2003, some of the tracks on the album stretch back to when he was only 16 years old, “Music wise my age helped me to not be afraid of using my imagination, to not be afraid to try crazy things. I broke the rules, just did whatever I wanted to do, it’s not a conscious effort or anything, it’s just how I am. I think it shocked a lot of people, I mean when ‘I Luv You’ was done I was only 16. But it’s just how it is. There’s definitely a progression in what I’m writing about now, but I’m still learning and doing it the same way I was before, I still write in short bursts.”

Dizzee’s modest setting for the making of ‘Boy In Da Corner’ had an obvious impact on the album’s eventual sound, both lyrically and musically, “It affected my music because that’s all I really knew, when I was making the album I hadn’t done much travelling outside of that area. It wasn’t even so much that it was all I knew, it was just that I could give a good perspective on it, to show a side that others couldn’t. It hadn’t really been done before, at least not in the way I did it.” Going on to detail, “It gave a perspective of just an average person, something that anyone could relate to. I have a more open mind now, and that’s a blessing, because I can explore new things, and be more creative with what I do.”

Rascal’s upcoming Australian tour will be his first, and the young Londoner is looking forward to the shows. Having chosen to focus much of his attention on America of late, there’s no doubt the Australian crowds will prove to be somewhat of a refreshing change, “I’ve done a couple of interviews with Australian journalists before, and it’s always been good. I know that there’s people over there supporting, so I can’t wait to finally get over there and check it out. I have this thing where I just love to embrace the crowd, and I want to learn more about the Australian music culture and scene.”

You can catch Dizzee on his first ever Australian tour at the following events:

Thursday July 22, Prince of Wales – Melbourne
Friday July 23, Gaelic Club – Sydney
Saturday July 24, Splendour in the Grass – Byron Bay (SOLD OUT)

Dizzee’s debut album, ‘Boy In Da Corner’, is out now through XL/Remote Control.