Maxwell Owusu Ansah (born 14 September 1984), known by his stage name Lethal Bizzle, is a British rapper from

Walthamstow Walthamstow ( or ) is a town within the London Borough of Waltham Forest in east London. The town borders Chingford to the north, Snaresbrook and South Woodford to the east, Leyton and Leytonstone to the south, and Tottenham to the west. At ...

, London, of Ghanaian origin. He emerged in 2002 as a grime MC as part of More Fire Crew, with their grime single "Oi!" charting in the top 10 of the UK Singles Chart. His debut solo single " Pow! (Forward)" attracted attention for its aggressive content, charting at number 11 despite being banned from

airplay Airplay is how frequently a song is being played through broadcasting on radio stations. A song which is being played several times every day (spins) would have a significant amount of airplay. Music which became very popular on jukeboxes, in n ...

and clubs. Although known notably for his single releases, Lethal Bizzle released his debut studio album, '' Against All Oddz'', in 2005, followed by '' Back to Bizznizz'' in 2007. Throughout his career Lethal Bizzle has experimented with blending mainstream chart genres such as

dance music Dance music is music composed specifically to facilitate or accompany dancing. It can be either a whole piece or part of a larger musical arrangement. In terms of performance, the major categories are live dance music and recorded dance musi ...

with grime, leading to numerous top 40 singles. He is known for his singles " Pow! (Forward)", " Rari WorkOut" and " Fester Skank", including other top 40 songs such as " The Drop", " Pow 2011" and " Party Right" – all of which have been non-album releases, besides " Pow 2011", which was included on his first compilation album '' Best of Bizzle'' (2011). Outside of music, Bizzle is a social media personality through platforms

Twitter Twitter, officially known as X since 2023, is an American microblogging and social networking service. It is one of the world's largest social media platforms and one of the most-visited websites. Users can share short text messages, image ...

and

Snapchat Snapchat is an American multimedia social media and instant messaging app and service developed by Snap Inc., originally Snapchat Inc. One of the principal features of the app are that pictures and messages, known as "snaps", are usually availa ...

, which have been used to promote his music independently. In 2012, he launched a clothing brand titled "Stay Dench" based on his popular British slang phrases.

Music career

2002–2005: More Fire Crew and "Pow! (Forward)"

In 2000, Lethal Bizzle formed the grime collective More Fire Crew, consisting of himself, Neeko and Ozzie B as MCs. Their debut single, "Oi!", was released in 2002 and charted at number 7 on the UK Singles Chart. It was one of the first grime songs to chart in the top 10 and remains one of the most highest-charting grime singles to be released. Their sole studio album, ''More Fire Crew C.V.'', was released the following year. Their follow-up single, "Back Then", peaked at number 45, while their third single "What's the Point?" did not chart. Soon after, the crew disbanded and Lethal Bizzle pursued a solo career. In early July 2005, Lethal Bizzle appeared on stage at the final

Live 8 Live 8 was a string of benefit concerts that took place on 2 July 2005, in the G8 states and South Africa. They were timed to precede the G8 conference and summit held at the Gleneagles Hotel in Auchterarder, Scotland, from 6–8 July 2005 ...

concert in

Edinburgh Edinburgh is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. The city is located in southeast Scotland and is bounded to the north by the Firth of Forth and to the south by the Pentland Hills. Edinburgh ...

. In December 2004, he released the single " Pow! (Forward)", also known as "Forward Riddim" which was banned from

by some mainstream radio stations because it contained some lyrics about gun culture. It entered the UK Singles Chart at number 11 in its first week on the chart in 2005, and it reached number one on the

UK Dance Chart The Dance Singles Chart and the Dance Albums Chart are music charts compiled in the United Kingdom by the Official Charts Company from sales of songs in the electronic dance music, dance music genre (e.g. house music, house, trance music, trance, ...

. He won a MOBO for "Pow! (Forward)" as "Best Single", and was nominated at the same awards as "Best Newcomer". Following the success of " Pow! (Forward)", Bizzle released the follow-up singles "Uh Oh (I'm Back)", "Fire" and "What We Do" with Kray Twinz,

Twista Carl Terrell Mitchell (born November 27, 1973), better known by his stage name Twista (also known as Tung Twista), is an American rapper. He is best known for his Chopper (rap), chopper style of rapping and for once holding the title of fastest ...

and Gappy Ranks, the latter two which peaked at number 34 and number 23 respectively. Bizzle's debut album, '' Against All Oddz'' (2005), was released on 15 August 2005. The album peaked at number 89 on the

UK Albums Chart The Official Albums Chart is the United Kingdom's industry-recognised national record chart for album, albums. Entries are ranked by sales and audio streaming. It was published for the first time on 22 July 1956 and is compiled every week by the O ...

2006–2009: ''Back to Bizznizz'' and ''Go Hard''

In 2007, the single "Police on My Back" charted at number 37, and was included on Bizzle's second studio album, '' Back to Bizznizz'' (2007), released on 23 July 2007. The album peaked at number 86 on the UK Albums Chart. After releasing no singles for two years, Lethal Bizzle returned with "Go Hard" featuring Donae'o, as the lead single off his third album ''Go Hard'' (2009). The album was released on 5 October 2009.

2010–2012: "Pow 2011" and ''Best of Bizzle''

It was announced by Lethal Bizzle on

that he would be re-releasing "Pow!" on 13 December 2010, to try to get the Christmas number 1 in the UK Singles Chart, like many people were trying to do by using

Facebook Facebook is a social media and social networking service owned by the American technology conglomerate Meta Platforms, Meta. Created in 2004 by Mark Zuckerberg with four other Harvard College students and roommates, Eduardo Saverin, Andre ...

campaigns. On 18 November 2010, Lethal was interviewed by Grime Daily. Bizzle revealed: "The whole Pow 2011 thing started as a joke. I was on

one day and I said 'You know what? Pow for Christmas number 1'. And bare people retweeted it and someone was like 'Bizz you should do an updated version to go with it.'" Lethal (saying to another source) said: "I felt the original was still relevant, 6 years on it's still one of the biggest club tunes, so it was kind of a no brainer. I was messing around on

about doing a new POW and getting it to the top of the charts- and the reaction was so crazy I thought wow I actually have to make this happen..." Upon release, "Pow 2011" entered and peaked at number 33 on the UK Singles Chart, becoming Bizzle's fifth top 40 entry as a solo entry and sixth overall. The single was included on Bizzle's first compilation album, '' Best of Bizzle'' (2011), which was released on 27 February 2011.

2013–2016: Non-album chart success

From 2013, Lethal Bizzle began experimented with musical genres, particularly with

dance Dance is an The arts, art form, consisting of sequences of body movements with aesthetic and often Symbol, symbolic value, either improvised or purposefully selected. Dance can be categorized and described by its choreography, by its repertoir ...

dubstep Dubstep is a genre of electronic dance music that originated in South London in the early 2000s. The style emerged as a UK garage offshoot that blended 2-step rhythms and sparse dub production, as well as incorporating elements of broken ...

and

house music House is a genre of electronic dance music characterized by a repetitive Four on the floor (music), four-on-the-floor beat and a typical tempo of 115–130 beats per minute. It was created by DJs and music producers from Chicago's underground ...

. Bizzle released a string of non-album singles without releasing a full-length project. He released the single " Not a Saint" with Dutch DJ & producer

Vato Gonzalez Vato Gonzalez (born 6 June 1983 as Björn Franken) is a Dutch record producer, songwriter, artist, DJ, who is signed to Spinnin' Records and DOORN Records. Best known for his single Badman Riddim (Jump) (featuring Foreign Beggars), which reached ...

and frequent collaborator Donae'o, which peaked at number 20. This was followed by " Party Right" featuring Ruby Goe, which peaked in the top 30. The grime-dubstep song " They Got It Wrong" featuring Wiley peaked in the top 80, and was later remixed featuring Krept and Konan, Kano and Squeeks. In 2014, " The Drop" featuring Cherri Voncelle also peaked in the top 20. In late 2014, the single " Rari WorkOut" featuring Jme and Tempa T received notable attention due to the popularity of Bizzle's

posts of working out in the gym. The single became tied with " Pow! (Forward)" as Bizzle's highest-charting single as a solo artist, peaking at number 11. In 2015, the popular dance-inspired single " Fester Skank" also charted at number 11, giving Bizzle three top 15 chart entries and three peaking at number 11. The singles "Going to the Gym", considered a sequel to "Rari WorkOut", "Playground" featuring Shakka, "Dude" featuring

Stormzy Michael Ebenezer Kwadjo Omari Owuo Jr. (born 26 July 1993), known professionally as Stormzy, is an English-Ghanaian rapper, singer, and songwriter. In 2014, he gained attention on the UK underground music scene through his ''Wicked Skengman'' ...

and "Box" featuring Jme and Face were also released, three of which entered the top 100.

2017–present: ''Lennox Rd'' and ''You'll Never Make a Million from Grime'' EP

In late 2016, Lethal Bizzle announced he would be releasing his first album after eight years, following his third studio album ''Go Hard'' (2009). The album was revealed to be titled ''Lennox Rd'' in December 2016, following a teaser for the lead single off the album. The lead single, "Round Here" featuring Giggs and Flowdan was released on 10 January 2017. In early April 2017, Bizzle abruptly preceded the release of ''Lennox Rd'' with the announcement of an EP titled ''You'll Never Make a Million from Grime'', featuring a guest appearance from

Skepta Joseph Olaitan Adenuga Jr. (born 19 September 1982), known professionally as Skepta, is a British grime MC, rapper, record producer and DJ. Alongside his younger brother Jme, he briefly joined Roll Deep before they became founding members of ...

. The seven-track EP was released 5 May 2017, charting at number 79 on the

. It became Bizzle's highest-charting album release. The second single released from the EP was "Hold You" featuring Mostack.

Other ventures

Stay Dench

In 2011, Bizzle started a successful T-shirt business with his first cousin and footballer Emmanuel Frimpong, featuring his catchphrase "Dench". Since then he has been very successful branching out to his fans on Snapchat, that has led him to create the hit song " Rari Workout". In September 2017 the social media website

LADBible LADbible Group Limited, part of LBG Media plc, is a British digital publisher. Its headquarters is in Manchester and it has offices in London, Dublin, Sydney, Melbourne and Auckland. Founded in 2012 by Alexander "Solly" Solomou and Arian Kalant ...

posted a video of Bizzle rapping with actress

Judi Dench Dame Judith Olivia Dench (born 9 December 1934) is an English actress. Widely considered one of Britain's greatest actors, she is noted for her versatility, having appeared in films and television, as well as for her numerous roles on the stage ...

whose support for Stay Dench is credited with raising the profile of the brand.

Television and film

Top Gear of the Pops was a one-off special programme that aired for BBC Two on 16 March 2007, as part of Red Nose Day 2007. The episode combined the elements of Top Gear, with that of BBC music chart show Top of the Pops. Bizzle's performance was deliberately cut short by Jeremy Clarkson who, before commenting with expletives on the performance, literally pulled the plug on Bizzle, before labelling the performance as 'just noise' and referring to him as "Jizzy Tissue" throughout the rest of the show. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n_RTTH50HFU In 2011, he had a cameo in the

Adam Deacon Adam Steven Deacon (born 4 March 1983) is an English actor. He is known for his lead role in the films '' Kidulthood'', sequel ''Adulthood'', and for his directorial debut, '' Anuvahood''. Career Deacon was brought up by his English mother in S ...

film '' Anuvahood'', knocking him out in the opening scene. In 2012, Lethal Bizzle appeared in the BBC Three comedy drama, '' Bad Education'' in which he competed in a rap battle with the headmaster. On 20 October 2013, Lethal B appeared on

BBC The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, England. Originally established in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company, it evolved into its current sta ...

's ''

Match of the Day 2 ''Match of the Day 2'' is a Premier League football highlights programme. It is a companion show to ''Match of the Day'', usually broadcast on BBC One on Sunday evenings, thus facilitating coverage of the respective week's PL matches that were p ...

''; after being hired to deliver a one-off report on the

Arsenal An arsenal is a place where arms and ammunition are made, maintained and repaired, stored, or issued, in any combination, whether privately or publicly owned. Arsenal and armoury (British English) or armory (American English) are mostly ...

Premier League The Premier League is a professional association football league in England and the highest level of the English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Football Lea ...

match against

Norwich City Norwich City Football Club is a professional football club based in Norwich, Norfolk, England. The club competes in the Championship, the second tier of English football. The club was founded in 1902. Since 1935, Norwich have played their h ...

. On 17 April 2014, Bizzle made a guest appearance on

ITV2 ITV2 is a Television in the United Kingdom, British free-to-air television channel owned by ITV Digital Channels, a division of ITV plc. It was launched on 7 December 1998. For a number of years, it had the largest audience share after the fiv ...

's '' Celebrity Juice''. On 22 September 2014, Lethal Bizzle, along with DJ Semtex, DJ Target and A.Dot, took part in a special

BBC iPlayer BBC iPlayer (stylised as iPLAYER or BBC iPLAYER) is a video on demand service from the BBC. The service is available Over-the-top media service, over-the-top on a wide range of devices, including Mobile phone, mobile phones and Tablet computer ...

version of the classic quiz show ''

Mastermind Mastermind, Master Mind or The Mastermind may refer to: Fictional characters * Mastermind (Jason Wyngarde), a fictional supervillain in Marvel Comics, a title also held by his daughters: ** Martinique Jason, the first daughter and successor of the ...

'' titled ''Hip Hop Mastermind'', presented by host

John Humphrys Desmond John Humphrys (born 17 August 1943) is a Welsh people, Welsh broadcaster. From 1981 to 1987 he was the main presenter of the ''BBC Nine O'Clock News, Nine O'Clock News'', the flagship BBC News television programme, and from 1987 until ...

, which Semtex went on to win.

Personal life

Ansah is the cousin of former football player Emmanuel Frimpong.

Controversies

He had a feud with

N-Dubz N-Dubz are an English hip-hop trio from Camden Town, London, England, consisting of cousins Dappy and Tulisa, and their friend Fazer. After winning a MOBO Award for Best Newcomer in 2007, N-Dubz briefly signed with Polydor Records before j ...

over intellectual property rights citing emails of hooks he had sent Tulisa. N-Dubz members Tulisa and Dappy responded with foul-mouthed attacks.

Music career

2002–2005: More Fire Crew and "Pow! (Forward)"

2006–2009: ''Back to Bizznizz'' and ''Go Hard''

2010–2012: "Pow 2011" and ''Best of Bizzle''

2013–2016: Non-album chart success

2017–present: ''Lennox Rd'' and ''You'll Never Make a Million from Grime'' EP

Other ventures

Stay Dench

Television and film

Personal life

Controversies

Discography

Studio albums

Extended plays

Compilation albums

Mixtapes

Singles

As lead artist

As featured artist

Other songs

References

External links