THE 1000 BEST SONGS IN THE WORLD EVER.

652-Dizzee Rascal featuring Chrome-Holiday.

2009-Number 1 single.

Best Bit-At 3.08. It’s one of those wonderful hands in the air moments, where you can dance yourself Dizzee.

Dizzee Rascal (see also best songs 138) was born Dylan Kwabena Mills, on September 18th, 1984, in London, England, he was an important player in the development of the musical genre ‘Grime’ (see also best songs 813) in the early 2000’s, with his debut Album ‘Boy in da Corner,’ which is a prime example of the genre, winning the 2003 ‘Mercury Music Prize.’ Dizzee Rascal who partly took his stage name from one of his school teachers, who was the first to call him ‘rascal,’ has at the time of writing released eight studio Albums between 2003-2024, and 45 singles in the same time period. In the UK he has had 21 top 40 hits as the lead artist, with four of those tracks reaching Number 1, he has also had a further three top 40 hits as a featured artist. Dizzee Rascal has appeared on two charity singles, which have also made the Number 1 spot, performing on, ‘Do They Know It’s Christmas?’ as part of Band Aid 20, (2004) and ‘Shout,’ as ‘Shout for England,’ with James Corden (2010.)

‘Holiday’ was the second of six singles released from Dizzee Rascal’s fourth studio Album ‘Tongue n’ Cheek,’ from September 2009, the song was co-written by Dizzee Rascal, (lyrics) and Calvin Harris, (music) along with Nick Detron, who is also credited as a co-writer of the track, as well as others tracks on the ‘Tongue n’ Cheek’ Album. Providing vocals on ‘Holiday,’ alongside Dizzee Rascal, is the ‘R&B’ singer ‘Chrome,’ who had also previously sang on Dizzee Rascal’s 2008 UK Number 1 single ‘Dance wiv Me,’ which was produced by Calvin Harris, who is also the producer of ‘Holiday.’ ‘Tongue n’ Cheek’ was a further departure from Dizzee Rascal’s ‘Grime’ roots, as he moved towards a more ‘commercial sound,’ alienating some of his fan base. Speaking about ‘Holiday’ Dizzee Rascal has said,’I live in a country house in Kent now, big pond, big fish, big whatever, and when I first moved in, I had a little pool party kind of thing. Where I lived before I didn’t really invite anyone round, but this time there were about 20 people there, and I suddenly realised that what I needed to do was make an Album you could play all the way through without spoiling the party.’ Calvin Harris had originally written the music for ‘Holiday’ with the British girl group ‘The Saturdays’ in mind, but after their management turned it down, he then offered it to Dizzee Rascal.

Calvin Harris (see also best songs 760 and 566) was born Adam Richard Wiles, on January 17th, 1984, in Dumfries, Scotland, both of his parents were English, and had moved to Dumfries after marrying. Calvin Harris has spoken about how he came about his stage name,’My first single was more of a Soul track, and I thought Calvin Harris sounded a bit more racially ambiguous. I thought people might not know if I was black or not. After that, I was stuck with it.’ Calvin Harris who has stated that it was the English ‘Funk’ band ‘Jamiroquai,’ and the English music producer Fatboy Slim, (see also best songs 760-387 and 95) who inspired him to make music, is one of the worlds highest paid disc jockeys/music producers, and is ranked in the top 30 ‘British Millionaires in music,’ according to ‘The Sunday Times Rich List.’

For his first two studio Albums, Calvin Harris sang the vocals on many of the tracks, but after coming to the realisation that others could perform his songs better than he could, he decided to concentrate on writing and producing, and from then on for the majority of his songs, he has employed many different guest vocalists. The discography of Calvin Harris includes six studio Albums released between 2007-2022, and 55 singles released between 2007-2023. In the UK, 38 of his singles have reached the top 40, with nine of those tracks making the Number 1 spot, he has also had a further four top 40 hits as the featured artist, with two of those songs also reaching Number 1. Calvin Harris has also reached Number 1 in the UK in 2012 with his official remix of ‘Spectrum (Say My Name’) by Florence and the Machine, and then in 2013 his official remix of ‘Eat, Sleep, Rave, Repeat,’ by Fatboy Slim and Riva Starr featuring Beardyman, reached Number 3. In America on the Billboard Hot 100, Calvin Harris has had 14 top 40 singles, with ‘This Is What You Came For,’ featuring Rihanna, peaking the highest at Number 3 in 2015. On Billboard, Calvin Harris has also reached Number 1 in 2011, as the featured artist on ‘We Found Love,’ by Rihanna.

‘Then after we’ll take a truck to the night spot, the hot spot, the top spot, party around the clock. And when we get there it’s strictly VIP, no need for ID, security know me. No waiting in line, no high entry fee.’