Their cheerful brand of hip-pop has spread across our airwaves & our tele screens like a happy, rappy virus. In an UNPRECEDENTED rise to fame, they’ve swapped the Brighton gig circuit for chart blasting success. XYZ’s Kaye Li catches the ‘Brighton boy’s done good’ at the peak of the action …
They are Jordan “Rizzle” Stephens & Harley “Sylvester” Alexander-Sule. A top five album, three top 10 singles, a No.1 collaborative single with equally cheeky chappy Olly Murs, a sold out headline UK tour with extra dates due to the massive demand and a BRIT award nomination; Rizzle Kicks have landed.
The ultimate definition of ‘meteoric rise to fame’ – a show in Brighton in March, and another one, and now weeks later another! (April Dome show). Unheard of! How did you do it?
I know it’s mad… we’re playing two nights at the Brighton Centre in December as well! We’ll always keep the Brighton connection, a lot of our videos are shot there and of course the Norman Cook collaboration. It means a lot that we have so much support in our hometown and that they want to see us live. A couple of years ago we’d have to bribe our mates with a pack of Fosters to come to our shows, we’d play to about five people – so it’s a real step up! We’ve come a long way and we feel what’s got us there is having a strong identity – knowing what we are and being able to present ourselves well and then finding the right people and platforms to help push us out there.
Has it sunk in, just how famous you’ve become?
Not really to be honest! We always want to push ourselves to be better and work harder. It’s handy being mates with people like Ed (Sheeran) and Jessie (J) who are just on another level completely!
Unexpected perks of fame? /Pitfalls?
It wasn’t necessarily unexpected, but meeting your heros and them knowing who you are and repsecting what you do is a strange but amazing feeling! We met David Beckham and he’d actually heard of us! There aren’t too many pitfalls – the usual early mornings etc. There was a time before we had security when a group of teenage girls spotted us on the street we live on and started chasing us. We hid behind some cars, it was a bit scary!
Best party this year so far?
The night of the Brits was one of the best of our lives. Performing at the Brits was overwhelming, Plus being surrounded by 70 female dancers wasn’t bad! We enjoyed the free alcohol at the after party and I (Jordan) got to chat with my hero Damon Albarn for an hour. I did spill some champagne on him though but he didn’t seem to mind about it!
Best moments?
The BBC Introducing stage at Reading! We’d released first single ‘Down with the Trumpets’ a few months before and didn’t know what to expect in terms of audience. Capacity was 500 but 3,000 people showed up and were going mental! An amazing feeling!
Has fame brought more luck with the ladies?
Not especially, I’m still waiting for Jessie J to be my wife. (Harley) I’m a fan of the older lady, Helen Mirren is a hottie. We heard ‘Mama do the Hump’ was on the advert for Cougar Town which may help!
What can we all look forward to at the Dome show this month?
Mad dancing, moshing and humping of course! We always plan something special for our hometown show so you’ll all have to wait and see …
What’s next?
We’ve started album two, we’ve laid down about 6/7 tracks and feel it’s a real progression musically, yet still in keeping with the signature Rizzle Kicks sound! We’re playing loads of festivals, shows in Europe, and a 26 date tour at the end of the year!
Playing Brighton Dome April 29th
Playing Brighton Centre December 6th and 7th
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