Dirty Dike
+ Ten Bag Banditz
Entry Requirements: 16+
Biography Dirty Dike is a rapper and producer.
That ^ is arguably the best way of explaining what he does in a short sentence. Thing is, Dike doesn’t really do labels or pigeonholes and a short conversation with him would certainly be enough to make that crystal clear.
Just ask any musician he has ever shared a studio or stage with. Sure, a banger is a banger, it comes out of the speakers nice, but, wouldn’t it be better with a skewed sample of Daphne And Celeste whooping every four bars? Probably. Wouldn’t it also be better if the verse were delivered atop a speaker stack, fabulous shirt swinging in time with the strobe lights?
It probably would you know…
Dirty Dike is obsessed with a handful of things. These things are instrumental in shaping his everyday and contribute significantly to the music he makes.
He is obsessed with discovery, and adventure, and debate, and late nights either immersed in derelict bliss or surrounded by glitching and bleeping synthesisers in his studio. He is obsessed with railway lines, and painting, and taking pictures, but most significantly, he is obsessive in his pursuit of writing, recording and producing music that extends beyond the limits of the aforementioned single sentence up ^ there and, put simply, this is why he doesn’t sound much like anyone else.
The best part about it all is that his efforts have captured the hearts and minds of fans across the world and he is both humbled and thankful for the support.
It seems people hear something in Dike’s psychedelic voice that they can truly associate with. Whether it’s the joy, the suffering, or something in-between. One thing is certain, Dirty Dike’s derivé shows no signs of slowing anytime soon.
Dike’s fifth solo album ‘Acrylic Snail’ is out now. A 14-track homage to the industrial estates and railway lines that raised him; an experiential body of work documenting the feeling of those times. Of growing up in raves. And the tumultuous and unforgiving journey out of them.
Line Up
Dirty Dike is an all-talking, all-breathing, fully-functioning rap FIEND.
Catch him on a peaceful one and he will most likely be sucking on king prawns in the moonlight and throwing their discarded pink tails to Cretian street hounds. Catch him on a mental one and he will be seventeen quaddy voddys deep slurring freestyles in a pair of rusty Pelle Pelle boxers and an odd pair of his girlfriends socks to Cambridge University students…
It really is all or nothing when it comes to the one they call Mr Dikestar; he never has been one for half measures in either his booze drink selection or music making. In an age where everyone thinks they can rap, Dike’s dedication to this thing called hip hop is as driven and focussed as you will ever see from anyone daring to call themselves a lyricist.
Either spouting the type of filth that is completely unimaginable to the average human brain or confronting the life demons that have made him the person he is today, Dirty Dike has galvanised a significant following across the globe with the diverse seesawing he cultivates between these two distinct, yet equally potent sides to his music making. It is this inspired marrying between the two aforementioned sides that has made his music so in-demand and celebrated. Both sides of Dike shine on each and every album he has ever championed and the power struggle between the two continues to flourish in all his future album plans.
Dirty Dike first rose to prominence with his acclaimed debut solo album ‘Bogies and Alcohol’. This was way back 2008. Aggressive expansion saw Dike later join forces with Jam Baxter, Ronnie Bosh, Mr Key and Edward Scissortongue to form the much heralded hip hop super outfit Contact Play whose debut release ‘Champion Fraff’ was swiftly hailed as one of the most exciting releases that the UK Hip Hop scene had witnessed in years. The success of Champion Fraff, plus the potent addition of solo sophomore follow up ‘Constant Dikestar’ and most recently the gloriously received ‘Sloshpot EP’ to his catalogue of releases, has seen Dike grow from a rambunctious twenty-something into one of the most talked about emcees in the game.
You can now find him either in Melonskin studios beating the fuck into his MPC, neck deep in records at one of Brighton’s many vinyl emporiums or literally flying up the motorways and down the train tracks of the UK, or jumping on a jet or two overseas delivering one of the rowdiest shows on the circuit to sold-out venues EVERYWHERE.
UK Hip-Hop from Rusthalls Finest, UNCLE and Li Sterling delivering Bitter Brash Lexicon in sweet and tender tones over even badder beats.
