| Lethal Bizzle | |
|---|---|
| Background information | |
| Birth name | Maxwell Osei K. F. Owusu-Ansah |
| Also known as | Lethal B |
| Born | 14 September 1982 Walthamstow, London, England |
| Genres | Grime (music) & Hip-hop |
| Instruments | Vocals |
| Years active | 2002–present |
| Labels |
Relentless (2004) |
| Associated acts | More Fire Crew, Gallows, Donae'o & Twista. |
| Website | LethalBizzle.co.uk |
Lethal Bizzle, also known as Lethal B (born Maxwell Ansah, 14 September 1982 in Walthamstow, London, England), is a Ghanaian British rapper. His songs are known to satirise modern Gangsta rap; much of the humour comes from the adoption of hip-hop style and language. In December 2004, he released the single "Pow (Forward)", also known as "Forward Riddim"[1] which was banned from airplay by some mainstream radio stations. It entered the UK Singles Chart at number 11 in its first week on the chart in 2005,[2] and it reached number one on the UK Dance Chart. He won a MOBO for "Pow (Forward)" as 'Best Single', and was nominated at the same awards as 'Best Newcomer'.
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Earlier he was a part of the group More Fire Crew. In 2002, their track "Oi!" reached the Top 10 of the UK Singles Chart.[3] In early July 2005, Lethal Bizzle appeared on stage at the final Live 8 concert in Edinburgh.[4] He was a part of the NME Rock N Roll Riot Tour 2007, which took place during September and October, along with The Wombats, and headliners The Enemy.
He was number five in the NME Cool list 2007/2008 beating Amy Winehouse, Pete Doherty and Alex Turner
Lethal Bizzle was signed to V2 Records, on which he released the album, Against All Oddz, in August 2005. The first single from it, entitled "Uh Oh! (I'm Back)", was released in the same month. He released a song with Twista, Gappy Ranks and the Kray Twinz called "What We Do", which reached #23.
In 2005, one of his songs, "Kickback" was on the soundtrack of the videogame FIFA Street 2.
He is known for his rap rivalry with Roll Deep Crew founder Wiley However, in the final track, "Til Next Time", on his album, Against All Oddz, Lethal Bizzle and his company calls for an end to this rivalry. In Wiley's new album, Da 2nd Phaze, Wiley has added More Fire Crew's hit "Oi!" as a bonus track, as a sign showing that their feud is finished.
Bizzle's second album, Back To Bizznizz, released on V2 Records. The first double A-side single "Bizzle Bizzle" (produced by Bizzle) and "Babylon's Burning The Ghetto" (produced by Akira The Don) was released on 16 July 2007. The song "Reflecting" on Back to Bizznizz featured his mother.
Lethal Bizzle's group, Fire Camp were documented on the television programme Lethal B TV on Channel U TV.
He also featured on the Print Is Dead Vol 1 album by Newcastle five-piece band yourcodenameis:milo, along with various other artists. Lethal Bizzle recorded a song entitled "I Got a .45", which samples "Don't Mug Yourself" by The Streets.
He performed with Pete Doherty and Kate Moss at the Hackney Empire for "An Evening With Pete Doherty" and again at Glastonbury Festival 2007. As a result of this, Babyshambles featured on Back To Bizznizz.
On 16 March 2007 (dubbed Red Nose Day by the Comic Relief) he was briefly featured as a live musical guest on the Top Gear special for Comic Relief entitled Top Gear of the Pops.
On 28 September 2007 Bizzle teamed up with the UK hardcore punk band, Gallows to perform a cover on T4's Transmission programme from Cambridge. Bizzle and Gallows performed The Ruts "Staring At The Rude Boys".
In June 2008, Bizzle performed at the Download Festival at Donington Park. In July he performed at the Kendal Music Festival, and at the Reading and Leeds Festivals. He also performed at the Royal Albert Hall for the Orange Rockcorps Campaign 2008 with Busta Rhymes, Ludacris, John Legend and Feeder.
On 25 February 2009 the first single, "Go Hard" featuring Donaeo, from Bizzle's forthcoming third album, was debuted on Kiss 100.
He played the NME stage at Reading Festival and Leeds Festival in August 2007.
Bizzle recently released a new video with his crew Fire Camp called 'Move' which also features Scrufizzer & Lady Leshurr
Bizzle has a new solo single called 'Mind Spinning' produced by R1 Productions who are co owners of Tinie Tempahs label Disturbing London, the track is set to release on 19 June 2011. Lethal Bizzle is distantly related to Emmanuel Frimpong who plays for Arsenal FC. They have started a clothing line called Dench together. He is also cousin to British Hip-Hop artist Sway, who is cousin of former Arsenal footballer Quincy Owusu-Abeyie.
| Title | Album details | Peak chart positions |
|---|---|---|
| UK [5] |
||
| Against All Oddz |
|
— |
| Back to Bizznizz |
|
86 |
| Go Hard |
|
— |
| TBA |
|
— |
| Title | Album details | Peak chart positions |
|---|---|---|
| UK [5] |
||
| Best of Bizzle |
|
— |
| Title | Year | Peak chart positions | Album | |||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| UK | UK R&B |
|||||||||||||||||||||
| "Oi!" (with More Fire Crew) |
2002 | 7 | 1 | More Fire Crew C.V. | ||||||||||||||||||
| "Pow (Forward)" | 2004 | 11 | 5 | Non-album single | ||||||||||||||||||
| "Uh Oh (I'm Back)" | 2005 | 47 | 9 | Against All Oddz | ||||||||||||||||||
| "Fire" | 34 | 9 | ||||||||||||||||||||
| "What We Do" (with Kray Twinz, Twista & Gappy Ranks) |
— | — | ||||||||||||||||||||
| "Mind Your Head" (limited edition 7" vinyl single) |
2006 | — | — | |||||||||||||||||||
| "Mr." (featuring 2Face) |
2007 | — | — | Back to Bizznizz' | ||||||||||||||||||
| "Bizzle Bizzle" / "Babylon Burning the Ghetto" |
99 | 28 | ||||||||||||||||||||
| "Police on My Back" | 37 | 11 | ||||||||||||||||||||
| "Go Hard" (featuring Donae'o) |
2009 | 79 | 23 | Go Hard | ||||||||||||||||||
| "Going Out Tonight" | — | — | ||||||||||||||||||||
| "Go Go Go!" (featuring Luciana) |
2010 | 179 | — | Best of Bizzle | ||||||||||||||||||
| "Pow 2011" (featuring JME, Wiley, Chipmunk, Face, P Money, Ghetts & Kano) |
2011 | 33 | 10 | |||||||||||||||||||
| "Mind Spinning" | 73 | 21 | TBA | |||||||||||||||||||
| "Look Up to the Sky" (featuring Jamal Hadaway) |
— | — | ||||||||||||||||||||
| "—" denotes that the release failed to chart or was not released in that territory | ||||||||||||||||||||||