Dizzee Rascal

Dylan Kwabena Mills (born 1 October 1985), better known by his stage name Dizzee Rascal, is a British rapper, songwriter and record producer of Ghanaian and Nigerian descent. His music is a blend of garage, hip hop, grime, ragga, pop and electronic music, with extremely eclectic samples and more exotic styles. Best known for his number-one hits "Dance wiv Me", "Bonkers", "Holiday", "Dirtee Disco" & "Shout", his debut album, Boy in da Corner, won him the 2003 Mercury Prize. Follow-up albums Showtime, Maths + English and Tongue n' Cheek have all been critically acclaimed and certified gold, the latter going platinum for sales exceeding 300,000 units.. Mills was born in Bow, east London. His Nigerian father died when he was young, he was raised for most of his life in a single-parent family by his Ghanaian-mother, Priscilla, who did the best she could for her rebellious son. He says: "I had issues as a kid. I was violent and disruptive. The way my mum helped was by finding me a different school every time I got kicked out, always fighting to keep me in the school system".. He attended a series of schools in East London, excluded from four secondary schools in four years - it was a teacher who first called him "Rascal". Cagey about exactly what his youthful "madnesses" entailed, in early interviews he mentioned fighting with teachers, stealing cars and robbing pizza delivery men. In the fifth school, Langdon Park in Poplar, he was excluded from most classes except music. He also used to attend YATI (Young Actors Theatre Islington) ...
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