When Jeremy Paxman asked Dizzee Rascal if he'd like to run for office last year, it seems he planted a thought in the young rapper's mind. The east London MC might have spent the last month telling us how bo-bo-bonkers he is, but a song on his new album aims to tackle something rather more serious: MPs expenses.
"I've got a song about that on my new album," the rapper told the Times, before revealing that he'd be single-handedly bringing down the moat-owners of this world by sampling the Adventures of Stevie V track Dirty Cash (Money Talks).
The track, which will also be called Dirty Cash, won't be the first time Dizzee's taken on Westminster. As well as the infamous Paxman interview, he spoke out against New Labour on the 2003 track Hold Ya Mouf, which featured the line, "I'm a problem for Anthony Blair". However, the rapper has recently concentrated on making more chart-friendly dance tunes such as Dance Wiv Me (with Calvin Harris) and Bonkers (with Armand Van Helden).
Dizzee isn't the first musician to speak out about expenses abuses. Paul McCartney said he didn't bother voting in the recent European parliament elections in protest, whereas Manic Street Preachers bassist Nicky Wire recently gave a radio interview in which he defended politicians. Wire told Absolute radio: "If we were all placed under the same scrutiny as politicians, I reckon we'd all be out of a job, I really do, because we're all corrupt."
Dizzee is taking things a step further, however, by tackling the subject in verse. "What do you expect from MPs anyway?" asks the rapper, who in the time since Paxman called him "rather positive" has obviously become as cynical and jaded as everyone else. "Not much if you've got any sense," he concludes.
Dizzee Rascal's fourth album, Tongue 'N Cheek, is due later this year.
