Interviewed in person at the 2009 Leeds Festival.
I was waiting around for an hour for Lethal Bizzle to show. He was signing stuff and talking to fans non-stop since his set and I was buzzing with excitement. I managed to crawl out from the press tent to see his set, which was incredibly lively, and I gained so much more respect for him in that short half hour.
I thought I saw his DJ and co MC, so approached them. Only, it wasn't them. It turns out that Lethal Bizzle actually has a whole crew of guys with him on stage and back stage, all of whom were polite and funny, but it was Bizzle that blew me away.
Altsounds: OK, so you sampled Nirvana and you covered House of Pain in your set, who are you influenced by?
Lethal Bizzle: Both them two... Nirvana were pretty much my first introduction to rock you know, that was the first song [Smells Like Teen Spirit] that I thought, oh man this is mad cool, even though it is rock music. I was more on a kind of Hip-Hop thing y’ou know, the NWA's, The Wu Tang Clan's, the Dr. Dre's, the Snoop's, Michael Jackson, obviously. Nirvana just popped up man, classic track and I’ve always wanted to try and introduce it into my set but I never knew the right song, but this week I was just going through it and the place went off man! I was like, whoa! People went fucking nuts!
Altsounds: I loved House of Pain.
Lethal Bizzle: Oh yeah yeah, that was nuts too. Lovely just lovely.
Altsounds: So you got the crowd going really hyper even though it was quite early in the day, are you happy with the gig?
Lethal Bizzle: Yeah I’m more than happy man, we were put on pretty early at 1:30 so a lot of people had just woke up and the response we got, I mean its kinda weird if you think about it - if they put us on a bit later what would’ve happened? Maybe the tent would’ve fallen down? Maybe it was a good idea to put us on at that time because the energy was crazy, the show was ridiculously good, I’m so happy man. I think its the best festival in the world man, definitely.
Altsounds: OK that was my next question! So your guys told me that you’ve done Leeds and Reading 3 times. So which do you prefer, Leeds or Reading?
Lethal Bizzle: You know what...I'll say it real, don’t edit this. When I first did Reading and Leeds, Reading was better and the year after, Leeds was better, then the year after that it was neck and neck. And I’ve just played here, and doing Reading tomorrow and I think it’s going to be really hard for Reading to top what just happened, because today was just incredible. It was just mad so tomorrow it's the decider and I'll put a thing on my Twitter to say who won.
[Editor: I checked but he didn't]
Altsounds: Ha ha OK. So, I can't help but notice your jeans are pretty big for you. Have you lost quite a bit of weight recently?
Lethal Bizzle: I have actually, I’ve been hitting the gym recently.
Altsounds: Oh, so you used to be a bit chunky then?
Lethal Bizzle: Nah but I was eating too much, way too much chicken, I’m a massive chicken fan.
Altsounds: I was only joking!
Lethal Bizzle: Nah, buts its true though, for real man. I’ve been in the gym and in the sauna trying to trim down, I like showing girls my bum so yeah that why my trousers are falling down.
Altsounds: So your t-shirt says 'I go hard, hard...'
Lethal Bizzle: Yep yep.
Altsounds: Are you a hard or a gentle lover?
Lethal Bizzle: A bit of both, I think girls like a bit of both you know what I mean? Sometimes they like it hard, sometimes they like it gentlemanly. So I intertwine the both worlds [his band are laughing at him]. Ha ha ha, what, what? Look at these guys man, what’s so funny? Its true though innit, its true!
Altsounds: So could you describe your perfect woman for me?
Lethal Bizzle: J-Lo bum, no no no, Pink bum. Pink has got a BIG bum, people don’t realise, pink's bum is big.
Altsounds: and that’s a good thing?
Lethal Bizzle: Of course! I like big bums!. So Pink's bum, Halle Berry's face, Beyonce's waist, what’s that woman with the nice lips? Angelina Jolie's lips.
Altsounds: What about boobs?
Lethal Bizzle: Ohhh...Jordan's too big, who's got nice tits, who’s got some nice tits, who’s got some real nice tits....,Titmus, Page 3 - Abby Titmus.
Altsounds: Oh no! She’s skanky!
Lethal Bizzle: Yeah, but her tits are mass though! Just throw the tits in there, throw everything else off
Altsounds: OK! So what’s your favourite type of trainers?
Lethal Bizzle: Oh, they gotta be Nike's man. Anything to do with Nike.
Altsounds: Are you endorsed by Nike?
Lethal Bizzle: You could say that, a bit, Adidas as well. But I’m a Nike fan. I've got some exclusive Go Hard, Lethal Bizzle Nike's.
Altsounds: Now, what happened to your massive chain?
Lethal Bizzle: Aw! You know what it was?
Altsounds: Did it keep hitting you in the face?
Lethal Bizzle: It did! Cos you know my bling is just nuts, but I gave it away to a fan.
Altsounds: Oh!
Lethal Bizzle: Yeah I thought it was time to move on so I thought I’d be a gentleman and there was one girl in the crowd screaming "I want your chain, I want your chain" throughout the whole show and in the end I just gave it to her. I’m such a nice guy. I just gave away like 100 free t-shirts
Altsounds: Aw, I didn’t get one...
Lethal Bizzle: Oh no, I couldn’t find you! Next time, I promise to you.
Altsounds: So how many sunglasses do you actually have at Leeds festival this year, because I’m not being funny but I saw you change them loads on stage.
Lethal Bizzle: Oh yeah yeah.
Altsounds: Could you even see through the first pair? [Blinged out Kanye West style]
Lethal Bizzle: Nah, not properly. I’ve got 3, you know Siavash From Big Brother?
Altsounds: Er, yeah? [No, and for people like me: he was a Big Brother contestant 2009 and self confessed “Slave to fashion”.]
Lethal Bizzle: They’re his design, he’s got a stylist [genuine shock in his voice]! When I went to Big Brother's Big Mouth he gave them to me and I was like, "aw they’re quite cool" and he says, "ah you can keep them" so I’m like, "cool!" So I was like, "yeah ill wear them on stage" but I couldn’t see fuck all so I had to change them.
Altsounds: So you’re quite high maintenance then?
Lethal Bizzle: Yeah something like that, but I do wanna see what I’m doing.
Altsounds: If I were a princess trapped in a tower, how would you rescue me?
Lethal Bizzle: I would jump on a Yamaha R1 motorbike, ride down to the helicopter port, nick a helicopter, fly the helicopter to yah, and kick down the door with an AK-47 bazooka. Run down, pick you up, put you on my back, jump off the top of the building with a parachute go to the helicopter and fly to Paris.
Altsounds: Nice! Ok, I think we're pretty much done!
Lethal Bizzle: Wicked, Cheers! Best interview of the day.
Lethal Bizzle was the highlight of my Leeds Festival interviews and was a real gentleman. He is touring the UK throughout October 2009 and has just released 'Going Out Tonight' available on Search and Destroy Records.
I thought I saw his DJ and co MC, so approached them. Only, it wasn't them. It turns out that Lethal Bizzle actually has a whole crew of guys with him on stage and back stage, all of whom were polite and funny, but it was Bizzle that blew me away.
Altsounds: OK, so you sampled Nirvana and you covered House of Pain in your set, who are you influenced by?
Lethal Bizzle: Both them two... Nirvana were pretty much my first introduction to rock you know, that was the first song [Smells Like Teen Spirit] that I thought, oh man this is mad cool, even though it is rock music. I was more on a kind of Hip-Hop thing y’ou know, the NWA's, The Wu Tang Clan's, the Dr. Dre's, the Snoop's, Michael Jackson, obviously. Nirvana just popped up man, classic track and I’ve always wanted to try and introduce it into my set but I never knew the right song, but this week I was just going through it and the place went off man! I was like, whoa! People went fucking nuts!
Altsounds: I loved House of Pain.
Lethal Bizzle: Oh yeah yeah, that was nuts too. Lovely just lovely.
Altsounds: So you got the crowd going really hyper even though it was quite early in the day, are you happy with the gig?
Lethal Bizzle: Yeah I’m more than happy man, we were put on pretty early at 1:30 so a lot of people had just woke up and the response we got, I mean its kinda weird if you think about it - if they put us on a bit later what would’ve happened? Maybe the tent would’ve fallen down? Maybe it was a good idea to put us on at that time because the energy was crazy, the show was ridiculously good, I’m so happy man. I think its the best festival in the world man, definitely.
Altsounds: OK that was my next question! So your guys told me that you’ve done Leeds and Reading 3 times. So which do you prefer, Leeds or Reading?
Lethal Bizzle: You know what...I'll say it real, don’t edit this. When I first did Reading and Leeds, Reading was better and the year after, Leeds was better, then the year after that it was neck and neck. And I’ve just played here, and doing Reading tomorrow and I think it’s going to be really hard for Reading to top what just happened, because today was just incredible. It was just mad so tomorrow it's the decider and I'll put a thing on my Twitter to say who won.
[Editor: I checked but he didn't]
Altsounds: Ha ha OK. So, I can't help but notice your jeans are pretty big for you. Have you lost quite a bit of weight recently?
Lethal Bizzle: I have actually, I’ve been hitting the gym recently.
Altsounds: Oh, so you used to be a bit chunky then?
Lethal Bizzle: Nah but I was eating too much, way too much chicken, I’m a massive chicken fan.
Altsounds: I was only joking!
Lethal Bizzle: Nah, buts its true though, for real man. I’ve been in the gym and in the sauna trying to trim down, I like showing girls my bum so yeah that why my trousers are falling down.
Altsounds: So your t-shirt says 'I go hard, hard...'
Lethal Bizzle: Yep yep.
Altsounds: Are you a hard or a gentle lover?
Lethal Bizzle: A bit of both, I think girls like a bit of both you know what I mean? Sometimes they like it hard, sometimes they like it gentlemanly. So I intertwine the both worlds [his band are laughing at him]. Ha ha ha, what, what? Look at these guys man, what’s so funny? Its true though innit, its true!
Altsounds: So could you describe your perfect woman for me?
Lethal Bizzle: J-Lo bum, no no no, Pink bum. Pink has got a BIG bum, people don’t realise, pink's bum is big.
Altsounds: and that’s a good thing?
Lethal Bizzle: Of course! I like big bums!. So Pink's bum, Halle Berry's face, Beyonce's waist, what’s that woman with the nice lips? Angelina Jolie's lips.
Altsounds: What about boobs?
Lethal Bizzle: Ohhh...Jordan's too big, who's got nice tits, who’s got some nice tits, who’s got some real nice tits....,Titmus, Page 3 - Abby Titmus.
Altsounds: Oh no! She’s skanky!
Lethal Bizzle: Yeah, but her tits are mass though! Just throw the tits in there, throw everything else off
Altsounds: OK! So what’s your favourite type of trainers?
Lethal Bizzle: Oh, they gotta be Nike's man. Anything to do with Nike.
Altsounds: Are you endorsed by Nike?
Lethal Bizzle: You could say that, a bit, Adidas as well. But I’m a Nike fan. I've got some exclusive Go Hard, Lethal Bizzle Nike's.
Altsounds: Now, what happened to your massive chain?
Lethal Bizzle: Aw! You know what it was?
Altsounds: Did it keep hitting you in the face?
Lethal Bizzle: It did! Cos you know my bling is just nuts, but I gave it away to a fan.
Altsounds: Oh!
Lethal Bizzle: Yeah I thought it was time to move on so I thought I’d be a gentleman and there was one girl in the crowd screaming "I want your chain, I want your chain" throughout the whole show and in the end I just gave it to her. I’m such a nice guy. I just gave away like 100 free t-shirts
Altsounds: Aw, I didn’t get one...
Lethal Bizzle: Oh no, I couldn’t find you! Next time, I promise to you.
Altsounds: So how many sunglasses do you actually have at Leeds festival this year, because I’m not being funny but I saw you change them loads on stage.
Lethal Bizzle: Oh yeah yeah.
Altsounds: Could you even see through the first pair? [Blinged out Kanye West style]
Lethal Bizzle: Nah, not properly. I’ve got 3, you know Siavash From Big Brother?
Altsounds: Er, yeah? [No, and for people like me: he was a Big Brother contestant 2009 and self confessed “Slave to fashion”.]
Lethal Bizzle: They’re his design, he’s got a stylist [genuine shock in his voice]! When I went to Big Brother's Big Mouth he gave them to me and I was like, "aw they’re quite cool" and he says, "ah you can keep them" so I’m like, "cool!" So I was like, "yeah ill wear them on stage" but I couldn’t see fuck all so I had to change them.
Altsounds: So you’re quite high maintenance then?
Lethal Bizzle: Yeah something like that, but I do wanna see what I’m doing.
Altsounds: If I were a princess trapped in a tower, how would you rescue me?
Lethal Bizzle: I would jump on a Yamaha R1 motorbike, ride down to the helicopter port, nick a helicopter, fly the helicopter to yah, and kick down the door with an AK-47 bazooka. Run down, pick you up, put you on my back, jump off the top of the building with a parachute go to the helicopter and fly to Paris.
Altsounds: Nice! Ok, I think we're pretty much done!
Lethal Bizzle: Wicked, Cheers! Best interview of the day.
Lethal Bizzle was the highlight of my Leeds Festival interviews and was a real gentleman. He is touring the UK throughout October 2009 and has just released 'Going Out Tonight' available on Search and Destroy Records.
