N-Dubz
* 850,000 albums sold
* 3 MOBO Awards
* 1 2010 BRIT Nomination
* 21-date sold-out UK tour
* Over 20 million views on YouTube
* A No.1 single
* Cover stories for The Observer Music Monthly, Times Playlist and RWD
* TV coverage including Jonathan Ross, GMTV and Never Mind The Buzzcocks
The statistics alone are impressive enough. But while the facts and figures reflect the incredible success that Dino ‘Dappy’ Contostavlos, Tula ‘Tulisa’ Contostavlos and Richard ‘Fazer’ Rawson have achieved, they don’t paint the entire picture.
N-Dubz have had a huge impact on modern British youth culture; they are, in fact, nothing short of a phenomenon, resulting in NME recently saying: “N-Dubz are the voice of youth. They are easily as culturally significant now as any guitar band you care to name.”
Reaching millions of people without the help of a major marketing machine or significant media support, for kids and those in the know, the appeal of Dappy, Tulisa and Fazer has always been obvious. Edgy without being intimidating, talented without being precocious, confident without being cocky, the trio have brilliantly balanced street smart with commercial appeal. Rather than some perfectly executed ploy dreamt up by a cynical marketing department, the trio is completely in control of their music, their look and their brand. From Dappy’s trademark hat, to Tulisa’s ‘Na Na Nii’, to Fazer’s ‘80s inspired beats, it’s all 100% N-Dubz. Evolving from a creative chemistry that appears to follow no formula, the three couldn’t be less manufactured, media-trained or mainstream if they tried. Kids relate to N-Dubz, because N-Dubz relate to kids. Kids don’t just buy the music, they buy into the band. More than sales, statistics and sell-out shows, N-Dubz has become a movement that is synonymous with the sound, look and attitude of the UK today. “We’re just real,” states Dappy simply. “We came from the street, and we put that into our music. No one does what N-Dubz does. That’s why we’re sticking with it.”
It’s not only teenagers that are fans; they fascinate followers of all ages, with everyone from Lil Wayne to Gary Barlow tipping the trio. Crucially too they have the respect of their peers; Mr. Hudson, Chipmunk, Wiley and Tinchy Stryder are among their past and present collaborators, while the aforementioned Take That frontman also appears on recently released second album, ‘Against All Odds’.
It helps too perhaps that they’re ridiculously talented. The trio composes every detail of the song, from the top-line melody to the arrangements, hooks, harmonies and beats. Dappy and Fazer play the entire drum, piano and guitar parts, and the pair produce, mix, master and engineer every aspect of their output. They’re totally in charge of their music, which is sharp, witty, inventive, conceptual and fantastically catchy. Essentially they make brilliant pop music without compromising their vision. “From top to bottom, we do everything ourselves,” states Dappy. “It’s that simple.”
It was, in reality, far more complex and time-consuming than that. Starting out as the Lickle Rinsers Crew, it’s taken 10 years of disappointment, false starts and struggles for cousins Tulisa and Dappy, and their childhood friend Fazer to go from council houses in Camden to the top of the UK charts.
Inspired by the UK Garage scene and embracing influences from Phil Collins to Tracey Chapman, Duran Duran and George Michael, the Lickle Rinsers released a series of street singles and mixtapes, recorded in Dappy’s dad’s home studio. Eventually changing their name to N-Dubz in homage to Camden’s NW2 postcode, in 2006 they released their first official single. ‘Better Not Waste My Time’. The song spent over two months at the top of the Channel U charts, and put the trio at the forefront of the UK underground. They followed ‘Better…’ with ‘I Swear’ and ‘Feva Las Vegas’, which did even better, gaining plays from Kiss, 1Xtra and MTV Base. ‘I Swear’, with ‘Better…’ as a b-side, was released independently by the group on their label, LRC, and sold over 38,000 copies. Spotting serious potential, Polydor Records signed the trio in 2007, deciding to re-release ‘Better Not Waste My Time’. Considering nearly 40,000 people already legally owned the song (let alone those who had downloaded it illegally), it unsurprisingly reached only No. 26. Shortly after, unsure of how to market them, Polydor dropped the trio.
In the midst of this, Dappy’s dad, Bryon, who also managed N-Dubz, died suddenly of a heart-attack. Alongside Tulisa’s dad, Byron had been a member of ‘70s folk band Mungo Jerry, and was a major influence on the trio. Label-less and having not only lost a father but also manager and mentor, many expected N-Dubz to fade into obscurity. But they quickly regrouped, determined to do things their own way. Using money scraped together from various sources, they self-financed a series of videos for tracks including ‘Ouch’ and ‘Defeat You’ Ft. Chipmunk, and the song that really cemented their success, ‘Papa Can You Hear Me’, dedicated to Dappy’s dad.
Seeing the self-made buzz, Shalit Global soon snapped them up, securing the trio a deal with All Around The World Records. Rather than attempting to change the group, they let N-Dubz continue with their strategy. It turned out to be an inspired move. “You know how we made it? By doing it all by ourselves,” reveals Fazer. “We told you, you told Jim, Jim told Clare, Clare told Bob and the CD started going around.” Through online promotion, soft release videos, tirelessly touring schools and small venues, and, essentially, word-of-mouth, over half a million people have bought their debut album, ‘Uncle B’, named in honour of Byron, since its release in November 2008. “We owe all this to B,” says Tulisa of her uncle. “Without him we would have had no studio, no one to drive us to our shows, no one to pay for our videos to go on Channel U. Without him we’d be nothing.”
Eventually, the mainstream press caught on, with features in the The Guardian and The Sunday Times soon followed by appearances on Never Mind The Buzzcocks and GMTV. In April this year, the trio hit No.1 with Tinchy Stryder on the track ‘Number One’, one of the biggest-selling singles of 2009.
Their second album, ‘Against All Odds’ is already another certified success. The lead single, ‘I Need You’, was a Top 5 hit and A-listed by Radio 1 almost as soon as it was serviced. This was followed by the epic, tempo-shifting ‘Playing With Fire’ Ft. Mr. Hudson, another smash hit single. A third single from the album, ‘Say It’s Over’ it due later this Spring. Elsewhere on the album, the group continues to mix gritty underground anthems with perfectly-crafted pop hooks; Wiley appears on ‘Na Na’, while Gary Barlow co-wrote the uplifting ‘No One Knows’. “We wanted to work with him to gain knowledge about he worked in the studio with Take That, and he wanted to see how us youngsters are working nowadays,” explains Dappy. “We came together and made a great record. It was meant to be.”
Once more breaking new ground, the inlay of the ‘Against All Odds’ album features a glossary of N-Dubz slang (everything from Duku Yourself to Par will be explained) and technology that has never been used before; an N-Dubz hologram, which sees the trio pop up into your hand via your webcam.
An incredibly special group, N-Dubz have proven, once again, that nothing can hold them back. Against All Odds they will persevere and succeed. It may appear to be an over-confident prediction, but don’t be surprised to see more No.1 singles and yet another sell-out tour in Spring 2010. “There was a lot of up’s and down’s, a lot of tears, a lot of people dying; friends dying, dad dying. It wasn’t happy, it wasn’t easy,” reflects Dappy. “But we stood through it. Uncle B was insistent that we stayed off the streets and went in the studio. And here we are, years down the line, fulfilling the dream. More than fulfilling the dream.”
The album ‘Against All Odds’ is out now. The new single ‘Say It’s Over’ is released in April 2010.
For Further Information Please Contact:
Simon Jones - Hackford Jones PR
official links:
www.ndubz.com