As a youngster at secondary school in Fulham, West London, would-be rapper Twizzle looked up to the older kids that could hold an audience by MCing with their mates. He found music as hedonistic and exciting as any other teenager, but didn’t necessarily think it would pave a career for him. Inspired by US rap including Fabolous, Young Jeezy and Rick Ross, as a teen, Twizzle found a niche for himself in music back home which suited him and which he thought made him stand out from his friends; his own mix of ‘hip -hop, rap, electro, dance and new wave’.
His first mixtape entitled Str8 Out The Jar was released in 2008 and began to put the West London rapper on the map. A remix by GreenMoney of a single produced by Benji Vaughan went on to do more than Twizzle ever expected. SkyDiving became an overnight success, reaching Number 2 on the MTV Base charts and securing support from Radio 1 DJ’s Annie Mac, Zane Lowe, and Nick Grimshaw. A chance meeting with rapper Chiddy Bang, who was at the time two spaces behind Twizzle on the MTV Base chart with The Opposite of Adults, secured a collaboration and ignited a tight friendship between the two rappers, which continues to this day. Since the success of Skydiving, Twizzle has performed at Underage Festival, he’s been featured by BBC Introducing and Guardian Music’s New Band of the Day.
Now 20, Twizzle has just signed his first publishing deal with Warner Chappell. He has a clothing brand in the pipeline and he’s billed as one of the most exciting rap-talents to emerge out of London, his debut mixtape The End is Near is released in 2011 featuring Wiz Khalifa and Chiddy Bang.
