THE 1000 BEST SONGS IN THE WORLD EVER.

813-Lethal Bizzle featuring Diztortion-Fester Skank.

2015-Number 11 single.

Best Bit- 0.08. Has Maverick Sabre suddenly become a household name, or is it that he just rhymes nicely with irrelevant pager.

Lethal Bizzle was born Maxwell Owusu Ansah, on September 14th, 1984, in Walthamstow, London, England, he is of Ghanaian origin. He first found chart success in 2002, as part of the ‘More Fire Crew,’ who were early ‘Grime’ artists, and reached Number 8 in the UK singles chart with their debut single ‘Oi!.’ As part of the ‘More Fire Crew,’ Lethal Bizzle would release an Album, and two further singles, between 2002-2003. In December 2004, he released his first solo single,’Pow (Forward,’) although it was a solo effort, it has got nine featured artists on it. In total Lethal Bizzle has issued 29 singles as the lead artist, and has appeared on a further four as a featured artist between 2004-2017. He has also released three solo studio Albums between 2005-2009, and there is one official compilation Album, and one Mixtape also available. In the UK, 11 of his singles have reached the top 40, with three of them including ‘Fester Skank,’ all peaking at Number 11.

As part of the ‘More Fire Crew,’ Lethal Bizzle was one of the first artists to find success with the genre of ‘Grime’ music, and then as a solo artist he has experimented, by introducing ‘Hip-Hop,’ and commercial ‘Dance Music,’ which has seen him have further success’. ‘Grime’ is a genre of Electronic Dance Music (‘EDM’) that emerged in London in the early 2000’s. It developed out of the earlier UK Dance style ‘UK garage,’ and draws influences from Jungle, Dancehall, and Hip-Hop. The style is typified by rapid, syncopated break-beats, generally at around 140 beats per minute, and often features an aggressive or jagged electronic sound. Emceeing is a significant element of the style, and lyrics often revolve around gritty depictions of urban life. ‘Grime’ initially spread among pirate radio stations, and underground scenes, before achieving some mainstream recognition in the UK during the mid-2000’s, through artists such as Dizzee Rascal, (see also best songs 652 and 138) Kano, and Wiley. By the late 2000’s ‘Grime’ had begun to enter into a decline, with many of it’s artists realising that if they wanted mainstream success, then they would have to branch out in to a more commercial sound, with artists such as ‘Wiley’ finding great success with ‘Wearing My Rolex,’ (UK-Number 2, 2008) and Tinchy Stryder, ‘Never Leave You,’ (UK-Number 1, 2009) with both tracks benefiting from a more radio friendly sound. It was Lethal Bizzle who said,’If you want to be a millionaire, don’t make ‘Grime’ music.’

‘Fester Skank’ was co-written by Lethal Bizzle, and Diztortion, with the production being by Diztortion. The song was released as a stand alone single, and there are several official remixes of the track, including the mix featuring Stormzy, Chip, Fuse ODG, and Wretch 32 (see also best songs 826) which also has it’s own promotional video. ‘Diztortion’ was born Raoul Lionel Chen, on November 2nd, 1990, in Amsterdam, Netherlands, he is a songwriter and music producer, and has been a long term collaborator with Lethal Bizzle. He has also written and produced for other high profile artists including Tinie Temah, and Stormzy.

The idea for Fester Skank came about after someone commented on Lethal Bizzle doing a silly dance for a ‘YouTube’ video, they commented that Lethal Bizzle looked like Uncle Fester from the ‘Addams Family.’ Lethal Bizzle has said,’The record itself was made in such an organic way, it was born out of my producer Distortion uploading a video of me doing a silly dance to the song on to YouTube, and someone saying I looked like Uncle Fester in the comments. I had a feeling it would take off, just by the reaction of the dance.’

‘I do things major, you’re irrelevant, pager. I’m a maverick, Sabre. You man are bankrupt, Fazer. Pree’ing me is essential, stay gassed up, petrol. It’s a new dance, no Tango, anywhere I go, I make the gang go.’