Darren Jason Dixon (born 19 January 1980), known professionally as D Double E, is a British grime MC, DJ and record producer from Forest Gate, East London.[2] He performs both as a solo artist and as a member of the grime duo Newham Generals.[3]
D Double E | |
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Background information | |
Birth name | Darren Jason Dixon[1] |
Also known as | DJ Dan |
Born | 19 January 1980 |
Origin | Forest Gate, London, England |
Genres | |
Occupation(s) |
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Years active | 1990s–present |
Labels |
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D Double E has been active for over 20 years, beginning his career in jungle and UK garage music.[4] In the mid-1990s, he was a DJ and went by the name DJ Dan. D Double was at the time in a crew called Bass Inject, alongside Terror Danjah and DJ Tempo.[5] In 1998, Terror and D Double E went on to form the drum and bass collective the Reckless Crew which played sets on Rinse FM.[6] RWD,[7][8][9] He was a member of the early grime collective N.A.S.T.Y Crew, until leaving after a dispute in December 2003.[10] He then founded the group Newham Generals together with Monkstar and Footsie.[11][additional citation(s) needed] The group remains active as a duo consisting of D Double E and Footsie.[12][13] He and the Newham Generals signed to Dizzee Rascal's Dirtee Stank label.
As a solo artist, D Double E's releases include "Street Fighter Riddim", "Bluku, Bluku", "Bad 2 tha Bone", "Lovely Jubbly", and "Wolly".[12] He is known for using vocalisations such as "bud-a-bup-bup" and "it's mree, mree".[14] Fellow MC Skepta once named him as the "greatest of all time", and Dizzee Rascal said he was one of the artists who inspired him to start MCing.[15][12]
IKEA invited D Double E to create a special soundtrack for a Christmas 2019 campaign,[16] marking the first time the grime music genre was used in seasonal advertising.[17]
D Double E is of Jamaican descent.[18]
Title | Album details | Peak chart positions |
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UK [19] | ||
Bluku Bluku |
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- |
Jackuum! |
|
61 |
Double or Nothing |
|
– |
Bluku Bluku 2 |
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- |
Year | Title | Peak chart positions |
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UK | ||
2004 | "Pow! (Forward)" (Lethal Bizzle featuring Fumin, D Double E, Napper, Jamakabi, Neeko, Flowdan, Ozzie B, Forcer, and Demon) |
11 |
2010 | "Street Fighter Riddim" | 145[21] |
2016 | "Ladies Hit Squad" (Skepta featuring D Double E and ASAP Nast) |
89 |