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  Tim Westwood Interview
interview 0328 added 17.08.05 words: Ben Spurr
technical:
QED
Love him or hate him, Tim
Westwood is the UK’s most successful Hip Hop radio DJ.
Few, if any people have done more to bring Hip Hop to the masses
than him. Having sold over one million copies of his compilation
albums, the Big Dawg is more motivated than ever to keep on his
grind. Ben Spurr caught up with Westwood before one of his
notorious parties to discuss what’s already been achieved, and
what’s to come for Radio 1’s hardest working and most popular
radio DJ…
For those who don't know that you have
been on the scene for time, can you tell us a bit about the
history and life of Westwood that has got you to the current
place in the game?
 Yeah, I mean it started off back in the day when I started off
as a club DJ, I used to be down with the sound system and carry
the boxes of the sound system and they used to let me get on the
early set before the party started, and then I got myself a job
in the west end of London working as a glass collector in a club
called Gossips and they said if I pack the club with 50 people
on a Friday night, they would let me get on the decks. So y'know
I got all my crew down from West London were I'm from at
Ladbrook Grove, well I'm from Hammersmith but I have all my
friends in Grove so they came down, packed the club and they let
me get on, so I was then the warm up DJ for David Roddingham on
a Saturday night which was kind of a legendary night in the West
End and then I was also the warm up for a guy called Steve Walsh
who was the big DJ for that era, may he rest in peace. Off the
back of that, it was the start of my career, it was a humble
beginning at Gossips, getting paid £15 a night, going to work on
the bus carrying my records in cardboard boxes, so that’s how I
started. Then from there I got on a pirate station called LWR,
that was a significant station because it was the first sort of
black owned black on station representing the street, the rest
of the pirates were all coming out of Kent and everywhere,
didn't really reflect what was going on in the street, jumped on
that station and I was out and out playing Hip Hop, 'cos that's
what was just starting at the time, a lot of early Hip Hop
records and from there I just became like a Hip Hop DJ, you know
what I mean?
“...I'm up to
my seventh album, sold over a million in total so I'm real proud
about that...”
That's what the crowd wanted and that's what I was playing so
from there I just worked hard and kept focused and got where I
am today. Radio wise I went from pirate to LWR to Capital,
served a long apprenticeship there and blasted off in my own
right and then off the back of that ended up on Radio 1. With
Clubs, I never stopped doing clubs, and with TV I did some early
TV work when I was on pirate and from there I was on night
network which was late night TV for a while and off the back of
that I've now got my TV situation on Channel U, Sky Digital 467
and I also do the albums, were up to 'The Big Dawg', album
number seven, so I'm up to my seventh album, sold over a million
in total so I'm real proud about that, so you know, keeping it
going. We've also got the web site situation TimWestwood.com so
that kind of were we are now, you know, TV, radio. I've also
started doing a couple of columns, one for The Sun and one for
Max Power for everyone who's in to doing car modifications.
UK Hip Hop has been considered
underground for a long time now but artists such as Estelle and
Dizzee Rascal are breaking in to the mainstream and prior to
them Craig David and Ms Dynamite, so were do you see the scene
going in years to come?
 It really depends on the artist, it's all about making big
records, all about making hits. I think UK Hip Hop for too long
now has kept itself small, people have made records for
themselves and for the scene. They have been too concerned about
scene itself instead of just making big records and I think the
way forward is making club bangers, records that are ringin off
in the club then get carried through to radio, clubs determine a
lot of play list. If your making a club hit, pirate radio DJs
who earn their money by playing the clubs 'cos you don't get
paid for the radio will be in the clubs playing the heat and
bringing it to radio and from then it will trickle up and that's
how it will reach the radio 1 play list and I think the classic
example of that is Lethal Bizzle with 'POW!', a lot of quote,
unquote UK Hip Hop wouldn't regard that as a Hip Hop record but
that to me is something we should be very proud of and claim our
own, it's a tremendous record, it's an enormous record out there
and we should embrace it. I just think a lot of artists out
there haven’t been making hit records. If you wanna get big and
elevate the scene you've got to make hit records, now I'm not
saying you've got to make commercial records 'cos 'POW!' is not
a commercial record, it's a hot record, you've got to be making
hits.
Having interviewed the crème de la
crème of American artists who have you got most respect for in
the current game and would you like to see go triple platinum?
I mean a lot of the people that I interview man are big artists,
we specialise in having big artists, I mean hip hops big and a
lot of those artists come over to my show 'cos they know that's
were they've got to go. Eminem does two things in the UK, he
does MTV Europe and he does Westwood radio 1, at the end of the
day artists understand what they've got to do when they come on
the show so we have some really hot interviews and we have
artists in all the time so that's a real positive thing and I
think the interviews is one of the highlights of the show. Most
of the artists I see are selling well but my favourite artists
are there are definitely Cam'ron and Dipset, I'd like to see
them get more success, I think they are incredible. I like
D-Block as well, I think Kanye's definitely got his props now,
you know what I mean? 50's definitely got his props and Eminem's
the biggest artist in the world so it's all good.
“...I think UK
Hip Hop for too long now has kept itself small, people have made
records for themselves and for the scene...”
Straight question to the man who knows
hip hop, who is the best MC of all time in Westwood’s opinion?
I think that would have to go to Biggie and 2Pac but personal
favourites I would definitely include in the top five are Jay-Z,
Ludacris 'cos he says some real funny shit, I'd put Cam'ron in
there, Nas. For different reasons you know, Pac talked about the
pain, the struggle and emotion, Biggie had charisma and style,
Jay-Z I think is one of the greatest of all time, Cam 'cos he
says the hot shit, you know what I mean?
As a follower of the hip hop scene I
have noticed that you must be the hardest working DJ on road,
gig after gig, show after show. Does Westwood ever take a break
from the mad schedule to reflect on his success?
No, we don't stop and look back- we are always looking forward
its part of our driving force. At the end of the day we don't
really do days off or holidays. We work, we love to work, this
is what we do and we are really happy to be enjoying the success
now. Three or four years ago I was doing like four or five gigs
a month and the majority of those would be gigs I've put on
myself, now we do four or five gigs a week. We are now in the
hip hop generation, its 2005 and it'd hip hop, that's the music,
that's the lifestyle which goes with it. I do work hard but I
wouldn't say we were the most hard working man out there 'cos
there are a lot of people getting their grind on and doing
something that you don't enjoy is hard work.
Recently another Westwood street banger
has hit the store but what's next for the Big Dawg?
Well, you know, we ain't stoppin', more albums, we've got three
albums coming in 2005, one at Easter, one for the summer
holidays and one at Christmas. We've got the Westwood TV
situation which is crazy out there, big up Sky Digital 467
Channel U for giving us the freedom to do what we've gotta do,
it's just an incredible experience. The radio show is going from
strength to strength, I'm really enjoying that and then more
parties. I've also got the columns, one for Max Power 'cos were
very much in to the car game and one for The Sun which is just
to get hip hop out to The Sun readers.
“...We don't
really do days off or holidays. We work, we love to work, this
is what we do and we are really happy to be enjoying the success
now...”
Is there any final messages that
Westwood needs to get off his chest and voice to the readers out
there?
We went on a freshers tour this September, October, November and
we did over 50 Uni's and we had the time of our life, I think
students are really the driving force and the cutting edge for
the hip hop scene and it's a beautiful thing coming down to your
Universities and ripping down your parties. So I really wanna
thank all the students who come out and support us, you know
support the radio show and buy the albums, that's great. I know
some of you cats haven't got Sky digital in your halls and
residence so I know you're missing out on that but maybe catch
up with that during the holidays but I appreciate all the
support and love from the student’s man that's really a driving
force for what we do. The student’s parties are the best
parties, you know the most energy and the most excitement, so we
have a crazy time out there and there ain't no party like a
Westwood party!
Check Westwood’s web page at
www.timwestwood.com for the latest on upcoming parties in
your area. Westwood’s latest street banger ‘Heat’ is out now on
Def Jam so go cop that disc!
-
Ben Spurr
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