'Look surprised' says the photographer. And he does!
The little man with the big attitude has ditched the woolly hats and now he’s planning to take over the world
Costadinos Contostavlos (aka Dappy) bounced onto the grime scene in 2008 as one third of N-Dubz, with their catchy beats and completely bonkers hats.
Speaking to this month’s FHM Magazine, he says: “There was the hot girl, Fazer and the little guy with the crazy hat. I wouldn’t knock it because that image got us famous and I am a strong believer you need to have a crazy image to get noticed. That hat really pi**ed a lot of people off. It’s just a f**king hat. If people are really bothered by my hats then I challenge them to come down to the studio and see how good a musician I am. It’s what I really do. Basically, f**k the ones with the issues.”
People have beef with him, but then he’s got plenty to have beef with, too: “People that don’t write their own songs f**k me right off. I have been struggling for 8-10 years to get someone to sing along to just one of my lyrics instead of standing in a queue. People singing songs that I wrote, that’s the dream. When I put my microphone out to the fans and they sing my songs it’s so f**king emotional.”
It’s not just being a loudmouth that has landed Dappy in trouble in the past: “Oh God, I have done all sorts of naughty things. Everyone does s**t they regret, but I am a changed man.”
There is no denying he likes the ladies. He likes them a lot. The Dappy masterclass in wooing goes a bit like this: “I come behind them at the shoulder and whisper, ‘Hello baby’, in their ear. If they don’t like it I just go, ‘Oh sorry, I thought you were someone else.’ I am not smooth like Snoop, I am gully from the hood. People tell me I have an addictive personality. I have come from a negative environment and I am very humble and that’s why I think girls like me. I couldn’t survive without women. I am with my Baby Mama right now and even though I have cheated on her, I love her to death. I’d be lost without her. And cigarettes… Oh and my fishing rod!”
Believe it or not, Dappy is quite the hunter-gatherer. “My dad was born and raised in Ethiopia with Tulisa’s dad and they used to shoot wild boar and rabbits, so I have carried on his legacy. The other day I chopped off a pheasant’s head and made a stew. I used to go carp fishing with my dad on the canal. I love all that man-against- nature stuff. Hey, I am the real Bear Grylls. He might have the upper-body strength, but I’d be handy in the jungle.”
It’s not just his N-Dubz cohort and very lovely cousin Tulisa who is making plans for a solo career. “The N-Dubz days were teenage music, now I am just getting started. I am going to be a superstar and this time it’s all about me. I am the UK version of Lil’ Wayne. Yeah, you’ve got Example and Tinie on the scene, but I am better than that. I am spontaneous and people want to look like me. Am I better than Tinie and Example? Musically, lyrically – hell yeah!”
He claims, “there really is Dappymania. People have tattoos of my face on their backs. There are people crying. Every day of the tour I have seen at least five criers.”
And finally, we couldn’t let Dappy go without asking him about those "winklepop" (as he calls it!) Twitter pics. “People have said it’s Photoshop, but it’s all real, baby. I am packing meat. I saw Chris Brown do it and I just thought, ‘You’ve got a little winklepop.’ Then I saw Ashton Kutcher’s one all poking to the side and I just thought I have to do it. I got the Tropicana and ‘pap pap’. Tropicana should give me a deal for that.”
The full interview and more pictures appear in his month’s FHM is on sale on Thursday.
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