After making a name for himself through his now infamous ‘rap battles’ on forums such as Don’t Flop, Blizzard has come a long way.
It’s hard to believe the talented MC knew that he could carve a career through his rap skills when he burst onto the music scene aged just 11. Yet there’s no doubt that he’s been ‘following his dreams’.
The Manchester MC has earned a place on the prestigious Lord of the Mics DVD, following in the footsteps of grime artists such as Kano, Skepta and Wiley.
His career path has taken him into various avenues of music gaining nationwide recognition for his legendary rap battle with former-teacher Mark Grist.
And now the 19-year-old has been honoured with performing on the latest edition of the DVD.
The DVD is considered to be one the premier release of the year which consists of the best ‘underground’ music from across the country.
In an exclusive interview with MM, Blizzard spoke of his excitment at appearing on the prestigious DVD series.
“It is an absolute privilege to be contacted by Lord of Mics, especially as I have come up through grime. It is an honour that my work is deemed acceptable,” he said.
“I was so excited I have never done anything like this before. The artists that have performed on those DVDs have set a high bar.”
Lord of the Mics regularly features in the top 20 DVD charts each year and could be a huge stepping stone for the Manchester musician.
“I would have never thought a year ago that I would be on such a huge DVD this is massive,” said Blizzard.
“Lord of the Mics was a ground-breaking DVD on the music scene. Especially as grime has such a southern demographic, they are pretty protective against northerners coming onto the grime scene.”
The DVD has given the young musician a chance to showcase his talents to a wider audience, where he is featured battling an old friend Big Shizz.
Blizzard said: “I don’t have any beef with Big Shizz which most people assumed I would, but we recorded a song before a few years ago.
YOUTUBE SENSATION: Blizzard and Mark Grist racked up four million views for their rap battle (video courtesy of Don’t Flop via YouTube, with thanks)
“It was a great opportunity to prove to each other how much we have improved, it was just healthy completion and a lot of fun.
“The battle couldn’t have gone much better to be honest, people called it even which is more than what I hoping for and the battle as a whole just went really well.
“It was all about showcasing my talents and I feel like I did that well.”
Blizzard has long since been associated with grime music, since he recorded a channel U number one Big Like in 2005 as a member of the Mayhem Crew.
“Big Like was the cornerstone of everything, it is hard to look at my career without it, because it happened so early in my career,” added Blizzard.
“Who even knows if I would be doing this if I didn’t record Big Like, it’s like an episode without a pilot.”
Since his introduction to the limelight, Blizzard has never shied away from an opportunity and has competed in rap competitions across the country.
One of his most notable battles took place when he fought a teacher from Peterborough, Mark Grist, who subsequently one the encounter and became an internet sensation.
The video of the two battling (including the famous line ‘you wank in sandals to picture’s of Gandalf) has since racked up close to four million views on YouTube and has propelled Blizzards name forward to be one of the biggest in underground music.
“The rap with Mark Grist was a good and a bad thing, but any publicity is good publicity,” said Blizzard.
His journey as an artist is continuing down a promising path as he is currently releasing a new EP.
The Manchester artist believes that this body of work is the best he has created so far after he has matured as an artist.
“I am so excited about my new EP, it’s the best thing. New music is always exciting I think this EP is more mature to my last stuff and you can really see a difference in the music,” he said.
“It was great experience and it is definitely my strongest body of work so far.
“If everything goes well, next year I will hopefully have an album out and I will have a tour going.”
Image courtesy of Don’t Flop via YouTube, with thanks.
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