Dizzee Rascal believes he should headline Glastonbury.
The ‘Bonkers’ hitmaker was supposed to perform at the music extravaganza this year but the festival was cancelled due to the coronavirus pandemic, and when it returns in 2021, the rapper believes he ought to have topped the bill because his appearances have been so popular in the past.
He said: "I was supposed to play Glastonbury this year. At this point they need to hurry up and just let me headline that thing. Those sets I played on the Pyramid stage [in 2010 and 2013], got me a headlining reaction – bigger than the actual headliners.
"That’s the thing about my sets – there’s not a lot of downtime, not a lot of dip, it’s just energy all the way through."
The 35-year-old star is grateful he’s got a lot of fans who have stayed with him throughout his career, but he mostly enjoys seeing "the young ones" on the front rows.
He said: "I’ve got some fans who are very vocal that they don’t like my work from .
"Then you’ve got other people who love it, but don’t necessarily know the early stuff – so a big part of planning would be getting that balance.
"But one thing I like about coming back to the festival each year, it’s always the young ones at the front. As much as I appreciate the fanbase that have followed me from the beginning, it’s the younger ones who have the energy to be smashed around by the bass, standing right in front of the speakers."
Despite the cancellation of gigs and festivals, Dizzee isn’t feeling "stressed" and is "optimistic" the music industry will return to normal eventually.
He told Guardian Weekend magazine: "When the first shows started getting cancelled, I just accepted it: that’s that, then. My thing is, the sun’s out and I’m not dead.
"So I’m not too stressed out. There are a lot more important things going on for other people.
"Live shows will come back but I can still go on the radio, my album’s still coming out, I can still reach people. I’m surprised at how positive I’m feeling."