IN:DEMAND

It’s been a sensational six months for 19-year-old friends Jordan ‘Rizzle’ Stephens and Harley ‘Sylvester’ Alexander-Sule. They’ve gone from being two relative unknowns to topping the charts guesting on Olly Murs’ ‘Heart Skips A Beat’, staring on the Children In Need single, scoring two top ten hits in their own right and collaborating with superstar DJ Fatboy Slim.

Taking time out of his manic schedule to speak to us, the extremely genial Harley says he’s waiting for all the madness to sink in. “I think it’s just going to hit us at once,” he laughs. “So much has been happening that we haven’t really had time to think about it yet! I’ll probably just wake up one morning and it will be like ‘wooooah what’s happening?!’”

If there’s one word to describe Rizzle Kicks it’s undoubtedly ‘eclectic’. Infusing elements of hip-hop, funk, indie, rock and even jazz into their rich palette of sounds they’re the aural injection the music industry needs right now. Describing their music as “British hip-hop”, Harley explains that he and Jordan drew from their individual influences; “I was into Arctic Monkey, The Strokes and people like that. Jordan was into old school hip-hop and funk like De La Soul and A Tribe Called Quest and all those vibes.”

Citing feel-good hip-hop icons Jurassic 5 as their biggest inspiration, Harley adds that witnessing pint-sized pop megastar Prince perform live over the summer had a profound influence on himself and Jordan. “We saw Prince at The Hop Farm festival over the summer and the show was unbelievable. He’s got so much aura and presence for a little guy; it’s crazy that he’s only five foot two. That was a special moment for us.”

Sampling ‘Revolution Rock’ by punk legends The Clash – something Harley hopes will “help the track cross over to an older audience” – brilliant current single ‘When I Was A Youngster’ is indicative of Rizzle Kicks’ many charms. Their second top ten hit ('Down With The Trumpets' also reached number 8 back in June), Harley is keen to point out that beneath the jubilant trumpets, dextrous rapping and entertaining music video, there’s a darker side to the apparently chirpy song.

“People think that it’s very upbeat and happy but it’s got a kind of depressing side,” he reveals. “We wrote the song before we were famous, Jordan was working in a fast food chain and I was doing something dead-end. It’s about the dreams you have as a youngster and not achieving them, which is something a lot of people can relate to. It’s kind of good that we’re living some of them now.”

Released today (31st October), Harley tells us that he’s “very proud” of the duo’s debut album ‘Stereo Typical’. However, don’t expect lyrics about sex or anything too deep, as he explains “We don’t write songs about girls or any bigger issues. We’re still teenagers so it’s just about the things that are relevant to us. Maybe we’ll cover those things on album number two!” Also featuring previous singles ‘Down With The Trumpets’ and ‘Prophet (Better Watch It)’, if there’s one song that will provoke intense interest it’s the Fatboy Slim produced ‘Mama Do The Hump.’

Explaining how the collaboration came about, Harley explains: “We sat down with our record label one day and they asked who we would like to work with. We mentioned Fatboy Slim thinking it was far fetched and then one day Norman (Cook – aka Fatboy Slim) bobs his head round the door and tells us he loves our music. He questioned why we wanted to work with him saying he was past it but we were like ‘no way man!’

“He still uses floppy discs and an old Mac – I can’t even remember what model it is but it’s ancient. In the studio you could just smell the parties that had gone on in there. The song has got a slightly dancier sound, it’s very upbeat just like most of his stuff. It was just a pleasure to work with him.”

Of course collaborations are nothing new for Harley and Jordan. Earlier this year their version of Jessie J’s ‘Price Tag’ (endorsed by the lady herself) notched up over a million views on YouTube while more recently they’ve given Ed Sheeran’s ‘You Need Me, I Don’t Need You’ a typically vivacious re-working. A close friend of Rizzle Kicks, the flame haired singer even appeared in the video which was shot in the band’s back garden. “The video was shot one day when Ed came around to ours and the director was around to film another video,” says Harley. “We just decided to do the video there and then. It was all done in one take.”

Rizzle Kicks’ latest collaboration is on an even bigger scale. The duo are part of an diverse supergroup dubbed The Collective who were conceived by Take That’s Gary Barlow and musically helmed by hot-shot producer Labrinth. Alongside fellow Collective stars Tinchy Stryder, Chipmunk, Ms. Dynamite, Tulisa From N-Dubz, Wretch 32, Mz Bratt, Dot Rotten ad Ed Sheeran (again) Harley and Jordan have recorded this year’s official Children In Need single, a cover of the Massive Attack classic ‘Teardrop’.

Describing Massive Attack’s trip-hop anthem as “one of the greatest British songs”, Harley enthuses about being involved in the project: “It was a massive honour. I remember watching Children In Need when I was a little kid and now we’re going to be performing on it in front of 10million people!”

On that note we ask Harley what has been the one true highlight of Rizzle Kicks’ career so far. Without a moment’s hesitation he responds: “It was definitely getting a mention from Stephen Fry on Twitter. The man’s a legend. Forget topping the charts with Olly Murs, forget the top ten with ‘Down With The Trumpets’ it was this. I can still remember what he said now – ‘I’m unexpectedly loving the old school hip-hop sounds of Rizzle Kicks’. It was unbelievable!”

If Stephen Fry approves, who are we to argue?!

Rizzle Kicks’ debut album ‘Stereo Typical’ is out now.

The duo are on tour with Professor Green throughout November and December and embark on their own headline tour in spring 2012. CLICK HERE to get your tickets today.

Tags: Rizzle Kicks | Interview | Ed Sheeran | Jessie J | Fatboy Slim |