Rizzle Kicks are an English hip hop duo from Brighton, consisting of Jordan "Rizzle" Stephens (born 25 January 1992) and Harley "Sylvester" Alexander-Sule (born 23 November 1991). Their debut album Stereo Typical was released on 31 October 2011. As of May 2012, Rizzle Kicks have sold 1 million singles and 300,000 albums in the UK.[1].
Rizzle Kicks | |
|---|---|
| Origin | Brighton, England |
| Genres | British hip hop |
| Instrument(s) | Singing, rapping, guitar |
| Years active | 2008-present |
| Labels | Universal Island |
| Members | Jordan "Rizzle" Stephens Harley "Sylvester" Alexander-Sule |
| Website | www |
Musical career
2006–10: Career beginnings
Jordan and Harley both attended Brit School where Jordan studied Media and Harley studied Theatre. Jordan was in the process of making his mixtape Minor Breaches of Discipline where he rapped over samples of some of their favourite artists (Gorillaz, Lily Allen, Arctic Monkeys) and asked Harley to sing over some of the tracks. Realizing how well their styles fitted together, they formed Rizzle Kicks in 2008.[2] The name stems from 'Green Rizla', an early nickname given to Stephens by a football team-mate after a crew of the same name from the school that he attended at the time. That nickname evolved into 'Rizzle' and the duo decided on the suffix 'kicks' due to their shared love of football.[3]
As a newly formed duo, they hustled for beats from local producers, honing in on their sound and created several bedroom demos, three of which ended up on their debut album. They soon started to garner a presence online; blogging on their website "Your Daily Kicks" as well as posting lo-fi music videos to their YouTube channel.[4] The videos were co-directed by the band and made by Toby Lockerbie, a wedding photographer they met at a party. A video was made for a demo of "Down with the Trumpets" in the Summer of 2010, closely followed by the video for "Miss Cigarette". During that time, they finished college and Harley went on to work as an assistant drama teacher, whilst Jordan was flipping burgers at the Corals Greyhound Stadium in Hove.
Their YouTube videos caught the attention of several record labels and in November 2010, they signed to Island Records, part of Universal Music. They continued work on their debut album and worked with several producers including Ant Whiting, Norman Cook, The Rural, Futurecut and Craigie Dodds. They intend to make a music video for every track on their album.
2011-present: Stereo Typical
In June 2011, the duo released a promotional single, "Prophet (Better Watch It)" accompanied by a stop motion style video made up of 960 photographic stills. The track was initially offered as a free download, before being released on iTunes. In July 2011, they learnt they had an unlikely fan, in that of Stephen Fry who proclaimed over Twitter that he was "unexpectedly loving the old school hip hop sounds of Rizzle Kicks."[5] Over the summer, Rizzle Kicks played a number of festivals; they supported Dizzee Rascal at Ibiza/Mallorca Rocks in June and were invited back to support The Streets. They also headlined the BBC Introducing stage at Reading and Leeds 2011 after having played Radio 1's Big Weekend in May.
Their first official single, "Down With the Trumpets", was released on 12 June 2011, in the manner of on air on sale, entering the UK Singles Chart at #84 and going on to eventually peak at #8 in September 2011, having been certified gold. The single spent a total of 13 weeks in the Official Top 40.[6] On 23 October, they released their second official single "When I Was a Youngster" which peaked at #8. Their debut album Stereo Typical was released a week later on 31 October 2011, entering the chart at #9, peaking at #5 and was certified platinum in May 2012. Their third single "Mama Do the Hump" , which was produced by Norman Cook, was released on 16 December, eventually peaking at #2 and has been certified platinum. The lo-fi video features a cameo from James Corden.
The pair featured on "Heart Skips a Beat" by Olly Murs, which was released on 21 August 2011, entering the chart at #1 on 28 August 2011.[7] Rizzle Kicks have also recorded a remix video for close friend Ed Sheeran's song "You Need Me, I Don't Need You". The video features Ed Sheeran himself and was filmed in the band's back garden in one take.[8]
Rizzle Kicks' played their first headline tour from March to May 2012, including two nights at London's Shepherds Bush Empire. The tour was sold-out and was supported act being rising star Josh Osho and rapper Mikill Pane. A second headline tour was recently announced for Winter 2012, playing 21 dates across the UK. The live set up currently consists of a band including a guitarist, drummer, bass player and trumpet player. Throughout Summer 2012, Rizzle Kicks are due to play at many major festivals across the UK including Wakestock, T in the Park, Wireless Festival, T4 on the Beach (headlined) Bestival V Festival. Rizzle Kicks also performed in Hyde Park on the 26th July 2012 in front of a crowd of 80,000 people to celebrate the Olympic Torch Relay Finale. In 2012, Rizzle Kicks also helped to launch the 2012/2013 Arsenal FC away kit under the theme of Purple Reign.
Discography
- Stereo Typical (2011)
References
- ^ http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ylg33aZb2qI
- ^ Rizzle Kicks. "Biography www.rizzlekicks.com/". Rizzle Kicks. Retrieved 2011-10-13.
- ^ Music. "Rizzle Kicks Interview". PyroMag.com. Retrieved 2012-02-24.
- ^ Rizzle Kicks. "YouTube and the modern road to stardom/". Independent. Retrieved 2011-10-21.
- ^ Rizzle Kicks. "Stephen Fry/". Twitter. Retrieved 2011-07-30.
- ^ "Rizzle Kicks – Down With The Trumpets". Chart Stats. Retrieved 2011-10-13.
- ^ Published Monday, Jul 4 2011, 12:28 BST (2011-07-04). "Olly Murs teases new single 'Heart Skips A Beat' – Music News". Digital Spy. Retrieved 2011-10-13.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link) - ^ "Rizzle Kicks –Interview". The Hits Radio. Retrieved 2011-10-31.