Zactly!
How Tim Westwood became the peculiar
voice of Hip Hop.
The
Observer, October 2004
When the moment finally came, I have to say
I was touched. It was about 10.50pm, near the
end of a Friday show on Radio 1, after the usual
aural assault from Ludacris and G-Unit and Kanye
West, when Tim Westwood said, 'I want to big
up my man Simon at The Observer - we're travelling
with a journalist tonight because we're BIG like
that!' I felt honoured, but I tried to be cool,
like I knew it was coming all along and it was
no big thing, concealing my crushing true belief
that I would be leaving yet another Westwood
show without a mention.
Up to this moment, it seemed that everyone else
in the whole of Britain had been acknowledged.
All the crews and clans, 'my Eastbourne crew,
Dave and the Big Knob Crew in Scotland, Drash
in Bolton I GOT ya! Shout out to my man Trevor
Nelson who really showed me mad love in hooking
me up with that 50 show. I want to big up
my team Tuan and Dre and Anna. Come on let's
GO! To all our freaky LADIES...'
I was pleased to be included in a show that had
included the phrases 'Bow down and kiss the RING',
'underSTAND this!' and 'ZACTLY! Without the E!'
- that strange urban lexicon that has brought
as much ridicule as respect, dispensed by a white
man who speaks like a black kid, standing up
aggressively at the microphone, hitting a touch-screen
to unleash sound effects of screeching cars and
exploding bombs. 'Fall back,' he says. 'Kiss
the ring. Damn, that's the way it's going down.
We're riding out tonight. Fall back. We're coming
to Club M in Luton tonight. Luton come party
with Westwood!'
An hour later, he sits in a van emblazoned with
his face and logos and show times, on his way
to a club where denim and trainers are permitted
but no hoods or caps, guided there by satnav
and all manner of toys and gadgets and DVD screens
that fall from the roof to show the latest American
car shows. Westwood talks about his new satellite
television programme, and his plans to attend
a memorial for a young black friend. He talks
about the possibility of getting a manager now
that things are getting so busy.
'I tell you, man, things are crazy right now,'
he says. 'People said that hip-hop was a phase,
but this is 2004 and we have the hip-hop generation.
People used to hate us, but now it's a multi-million-dollar
industry. It's always been a struggle, but now
I'm ready. I'm built for it.'
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