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Jun
26
2006
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Fo Shizzle Lethal Bizzle |
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Sunday, 25 June 2006 |
 UKMusic.com enjoyed a natter with fast-rising east London rapper, Lethal Bizzle, real name Maxwell Ansah, about Choong Girls, Live 8, football and more.
When and why did you decide to call yourself Lethal Bizzle?I called myself that from school days. I was at school with Ozzie and we chose our names back then. We used to MC in the playground for all the ladies. I liked the name Lethal, we all added the Bizzle after our names after.
How did your experiences with More Fire Crew affect you?
The More Fire experience had a massive effect on me, if all that didn’t happen then I probably wouldn’t be where I am today. I was really young when I got signed and I was thrown into the spotlight t- we thought we’d made it now. Everyone wanted to know us, but it was taken away so quickly. It really made me learn a lot and it was mad how all of sudden no-one wanted to know me.
What´s the best way to deal with haters?
Just keep doing your thing, at the end of the day you must be doing something right for people to be hating. Just keep focused on your work and your music and keeping all the grind and you´ll be the one laughing in the long run.
What´s a Choong Girl?A choong girl is a sexy lady with a curvy body, nice breasts, nice bum, and a cute face. Choong!
What´s your beef with Wiley?
Wiley and me are cool. It was all a little lyrical battle through music, nothing more. I spoke to him the other day, so we chat from time to time.
You featured on the Source magazine cover – “It´s War! Leading the UK Takeover” – how realistic a possibility is that?Yeah definitely, that’s a big possibility. Everyone is doing their own thing. If we step it all up this year we could really take this somewhere. I’ve started my own independent label and have got national distribution behind me. So things are starting to move forward- it’s looking good for the future.
What was your initial reaction to your MOBO triumph?
I didn’t believe it at all, I wasn’t expecting it. I wasn’t even going to go the awards cos I was meant to be performing with the Kray Twinz but US rapper Twista missed his flight to the UK! I was feeling pretty shit because of that. I’m really glad I went though, it was a wicked night.
How did you find playing Live 8?
I went over on the plane to the G8 summit with Bob Geldof, and a load of other celebrities and high-profile people. That was mad! It was definitely a good experience,I met a lot of really safe people.
Nadia Khan, your record label manager, reveals “There was a point last year when nobody wanted to book” you – how difficult a time was that for you? To the point where you wanted to jack it all in?
When I was banned from performing all over the UK I couldn’t understand why cos I hadn’t done anything wrong. I was totally banned from playing gigs in London. That’s how I got into the indie club scene as I was able to go into these clubs and do my sets without worrying about if the night would be cancelled because of me. It’s mad but it worked as people started to see there wasn´t any trouble at my gigs.
Why do grime and indie complement each other so well?The energy and rawness is the same. I’ve been hanging out with a lot of bands lately and they’re all on the same vibe as me which is mad. Some of them are even more into the grime scene than I am and know all the new tracks on the underground. It’s a good look for the scene for us to be working together.
What are your recollections of the Camden Crawl?That was a heavy night, the crowd were really hyped and excited. I stayed around to watch Supergrass after, they were amazing.
You performed at the Love Music Hate Racism concert in Trafalgar Square – is the day sooner rather than later when we won´t need to put shows of this kind on?There should be more shows like this happening around the UK to promote this message and get the kids involved. If we have a lot more support from big promoters and big venues to work together with artists like myself we can start to reach young people and make a difference.
Mardi Caught, Director of Talent and Artist Relations at MTV Networks, singled you out as a likely 2006 success story – how much pressure do you feel under?
I don’t feel under any kind of pressure. I just keep doing my thing, I got my plan in mind and I’ve just been following it from Forward days.
You´re mates with footballer Jody Morris – I´m guessing you´re Chelsea more than Millwall?Yeah, I got a few football mates. I’m really into the World Cup at the mo- my home country team are playing- Ghana. All that yam they been eating has made them tough- we can make it to the knock-out stages the way they’ve played the last few games.
You think the world´s going to end – when exactly?I did hear it was meant to end a few weeks back on 06.06.06.
You´re a landlord - how many tenants do you have?A few, but I let an agency deal with it so I don’t get random calls about broken drains and that.
What´s the Great Fire of London project all about?
The Great Fire of London is the name of the Fire Camp album coming out on Lethal Bizzle Records. Fire Camp are a group of 14 MCs that I´ve signed to my label. I’ve invested a lot of my money into my label and this album is the first major release. The guys in Fire Camp range from 17-22 years old, they’re Knowledge, Ozzie, Fumin, Wizz Kid, Tazz, Fader, Top Kat, Gambit, Clipper, 2Lipe, 2Face, Gloka, Twister, and Faraknigh.
And the workshops?
I’ve been attacked by David Cameron recently in the press but I put a lot of effort into giving back to the young kids in my area. I’ve signed Fire Camp to my label and given these 14 guys a big opportunity to sell their music through my label and build their profile. On top of that I’m planning a series of workshops around the UK encouraging kids to be independent, motivated and work on their music.
More info: http://www.lethalbizzle.co.uk
Words By: Matthew Hirtes
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