Whether or not they are willing to admit to it, virtually every artist wants to crossover into the mainstream.  The advantages are tempting: a wider fanbase, greater exposure, and more money.  UK rapper, Dizzee Rascal, has been on the edge of a major U.S. crossover ever since his 2003 debut album, Boy in Da Corner. 

While he has received international critical acclaim for his work he has yet to crossover in the U.S. market.  But that hasn’t deterred him from the grind with his third album, Maths + English, featuring Bun B, Arctic Monkeys frontman Alex Turner, and Lily Allen.

Sixshot did the math and got the 411 from Dizzee on the pressure to rap about bling, why he could never see himself living in America, being a role model, trying to prove his manhood, rumors that he dissed Jay-Z, and more.    

In the album title, “maths” refers to producing beats, deals, and money while “english” refers to writing lyrics.  Do the two ever conflict in your experience?

I think they go hand-in-hand more than anything—just making the music involves all of that.

But does the deals and money aspect ever get in the way of the lyrical content?

Yeah, especially in a climat e where it seems the most successful rapper is the one with the most money and s***.  So it’s difficult not to start rapping about that all the time.

How do you negotiate that balance between speaking on real issues without alienating your fans?

I step back and look at myself as a person.  I don’t really give a s*** about jewels--all that is nice, but that's not what I'm about.  I care about creating something new and interesting.  Do I really care?  Am I really trying to compete with these guys?  If so do I want to do it this way?  I take it from there.

Some say that the overseas hip-hop scene is more authentic or more true to the roots of hip-hop compared to the U.S. now.  Do you agree?

I wouldn’t say that.  You can’t say that because it’s everywhere but maybe France which do in their own language—everywhere they got their benchmarks from America.  So I wouldn’t say it’s more real.  It’s just right now there’s interest in things coming from places other than the U.S.

I read that you could not see yourself living in America because the more and more you come here the more you see what it’s about underneath.

People are greedy!  [Laughs]  It’s a far place from where I come from.  The culture is different.  It’s about money to a major extent.  Many kids from where I’m from see America from the TV and it looks amazing.  Then there’s a bad thing like if you’re poor here it can be really terrible.  In England people think they’ve got it bad, but if you're young and get shot you can go to the hospital and don’t have to worry about insurance and s*** like that.

Your lyrics often talk about broken homes, aimless youth, and things of that nature.  With topics like these many young people consider you to be a role model.  How do you handle that title? 

I just try and be real with it.  I don’t do the right thing all the time.  People get the truth and take it from there—so that they know consequences.  First and foremost I just live my life.

Do you think that kind of honesty is missing in today’s role models?

I don’t know about what they’re missing or anything like that.  I just say as a role model if they see me as that—all I can do is be honest.

In your own childhood you grew up without a father.  How did you adjust to that?

I got into a lot of trouble and dumb s*** and fighting to prove my manhood

How did you get over that need to prove manhood or are you still dealing with that issue?

I got over it by going through the ranks in the underground as a young MC and producer to get to the level where I'm at now.  Along the way I gained a bit of self-worth.

Some people consider that since you’ve gotten more mainstream success you’ve distanced yourself from pirate radio and the rave scene.  Do you agree?

Yeah, that ain't where I need to be at the moment.  Every now and then I pop up and do a special show for pirate radio stations.  As for rave, there’s really no point.  If I go there to raves there’ll just be a problem and it ain’t worth it.

Earlier this year it was reported that you expressed hesitation over Jay-Z headlining the Glastonbury Festival--

I didn’t—journalists make it sound like that in their writing.  The issue wasn’t about that that.  What I was saying got placed out of context.  I'm a Jay-Z fan and I listen to him religiously.

So they totally misquoted you?

Yeah, they made it look like something else and took one tiny piece out of one whole interview like journalists do.

So you have suspicions of journalists?

It’s not suspicion.  It’s just they do what they do in front of my eyes and there ain’t no mystery about it.

In an interview you said that everything you do is for the music and that you want to master the craft.  At what stage are you at now in terms of mastering the music?

Compared to Timbaland, Snoop Dogg, and Jay-Z , I’ve got years and years to go.

So those are the kinds of artists that you compare yourself to and use as benchmarks of success?

Yeah, people like that that have had longevity in the game as rappers.  They’ve been in the game like over ten years and on top.  So I compare myself to them and I've got a long way to go—not that I can't ever reach that level, but I'm still young in the game.

For more information please visit:
www.myspace.com/dizzeerascal