Lethal Bizzle

Lethal Bizzle (2011)

Lethal Bizzle (* 1983 in Walthamstow ; real name: Maxwell Ansah ) is a musician from the British grime scene .

Life

Maxwell Ansah was born in Walthamstow near London to two Ghanaians. Drum and bass was the first music he became interested in before turning to rappers like Nas and Notorious BIG, as well as the Wu-Tang clan . Together with Ozzi B he began rapping under the rap name Lethal Bizzle while they were still at school and when they met Neeko, they formed the More Fire Crew in 2000 . They spread their music on local underground stations, and eventually Pete Tong and the BBC took notice of them. They got a record deal and with producer Platinum 45 they released the single Oi! which became one of the first national grime hits and hit the top 10 on the UK charts . Their debut album flopped and after another single missed the top 40, they lost their record deal again.

Lethal Bizzle, who after the initial success had left school in favor of a music career, then founded his own label and released his first solo single Pow (Forward) on V2 Records at the end of 2004 . It made it to number 11 on the charts and received a MOBO Award for the single of the year, although major radio stations and clubs boycotted the song because of lines glorifying violence. At the same time he made a name for himself in the States and rappers like Busta Rhymes noticed him. Both brought out a remake that also included Dizzee Rascal .

Eight months later he released his debut album Against All Oddz , which made it into the charts along with three other songs. In 2006 there was a media dispute with Prime Minister David Cameron . He had attacked Lethal Bizzle on behalf of the violent grime culture, whereupon he publicly justified himself. Back to Bizznizz was the name of the second album that he released in 2007. It hit the charts again, as did two songs from it.

He then reunited with Ozzi B under the name Fire Camp . He also separated from the V2 label and released his third solo album Go Hard in 2009 via Search & Destroy . However, both ventures brought no further success. Even a best-of album two years later received little attention , apart from a new recording by Pow . Other grime stars like Jme , Wiley and Chipmunk were involved in Pow 2011 and at least brought the new version to 33rd place.

In the first half of the 2010s, he continued to release singles regularly, but without presenting another album. The songs continued to hit the charts, with Rari WorkOut and Fester Skank he reached number 11 in 2014 and 2015, respectively, narrowly missing his first top 10 hit. His last chart placement came in 2017 with an EP , his first major release in eight years: You'll Never Make a Million from Grime again reached number 75 on the album charts.

Discography

Studio albums

year	title	Top ranking, total weeks, awardChartsChart placements (Year, title, rankings, weeks, awards, notes)	Remarks
		UK
2005	Against All Oddz	UK89 (1 week) UK
2007	Back to Bizznizz	UK86 (1 week) UK

More studio albums

• 2009: Go Hard

Compilations

• 2011: Best of Bizzle

Mix tapes

• 2007: Da Bizzle Mixtape

EPs

year	title	Top ranking, total weeks, awardChartsChart placements (Year, title, rankings, weeks, awards, notes)	Remarks
		UK
2017	You'll Never Make a Million from Grime	UK75 (1 week) UK

Singles

year	Title album	Top ranking, total weeks, awardChartsChart placements (Year, title, album , rankings, weeks, awards, notes)	Remarks
		UK
2005	Pow (Forward)	UK11 (7 weeks) UK
	Uh Oh (I'm Back) Against All Oddz	UK47 (3 weeks) UK
	Fire Against All Oddz	UK34 (4 weeks) UK
	What We Do Against All Oddz	UK23 (5 weeks) UK	with Kray Twinz, Gappy Ranks & Twista
2007	Bizzle Bizzle Back to Bizznizz	UK99 (1 week) UK
	Police on My Back Back to Bizznizz	UK37 (3 weeks) UK
2009	Go hard go hard	UK79 (3 weeks) UK
2011	Pow 2011 Best of Bizzle	UK33 (2 weeks) UK	feat. Grime All Stars
	Mind spinning	UK73 (1 week) UK
2013	Not a saint	UK20 (3 weeks) UK	with Donae'O vs. Vato Gonzalez
	They Got It Wrong	UK74 (1 week) UK	feat. Wiley
	Party right	UK29 (2 weeks) UK	feat. Ruby Goe
2014	The drop	UK20 (2 weeks) UK	feat. Cherri Voncelle
	RariWorkOut	UK11 (3 weeks) UK	feat. Jme & Tempa T
2015	Solid skank	UK11 gold (19 weeks)UK	feat. Diztortion
	Playground	UK79 (1 week) UK	with Shakka
	Dude	UK49 (1 week) UK	with Stormzy
2016	Wobble	UK98 (1 week) UK

swell

1. ^ Hip-hop under fire , Matilda Egere-Cooper, Independent, June 16, 2006
2. ↑ ^{a b c} UK chart placements
3. ↑ ^{a b c} Music Sales Awards: UK

Web links

• official homepage
• Lethal Bizzle at Allmusic (English)