Editing Dizzee Rascal (section)

===2000–2003: Early career===
Around the age of 14, Dizzee Rascal became an amateur [[drum and bass]] DJ, also rapping over tracks as customary in [[Sound system (Jamaican)|sound system]] culture, and making occasional appearances on local [[pirate radio]] stations.<ref name=":1">{{citation|last=DJ Vlad|title=Dizzee Rascal on Growing up in the Projects & Raw Gun Culture in the U.K.|date=17 March 2016|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l3hugcCt6b0&t=244|access-date=10 August 2016|archive-date=30 March 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210330080937/https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l3hugcCt6b0&t=244|url-status=live}}</ref> Aged sixteen, he self-produced his first single, "[[I Luv U (Dizzee Rascal song)|I Luv U]]".<ref name="Indp1"/> In 2002, he jointly formed the [[Roll Deep Crew]], a 13-piece garage collective, with former school friends. He also signed a solo deal with the [[record label]] [[XL Recordings|XL]].<ref name="BBC1">{{cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/music/3055770.stm|title=Garage star stabbed in Cyprus|work=BBC News|date=8 July 2003|access-date=8 May 2009|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090512160847/http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/music/3055770.stm|archive-date=12 May 2009|url-status=live}}</ref>

During his early career, Rascal worked with his mentor [[Wiley (rapper)|Wiley]] to create the still-unreleased song "We Ain't Having It" and rapped on some Sidewinder recordings. He made some instrumentals including "Go" and "Ho" and "Streetfighter". Rascal had an ongoing feud, from late 2003, with fellow underground grime artist [[Crazy Titch]], which began when a fight broke out between the pair during a set on a guest show on the pirate radio station Deja Vu FM. The set, which features many seminal early grime artists, was filmed, and has accumulated over a million views on YouTube<ref>{{cite news |first=Dan |last=Hancox |url=https://www.theguardian.com/music/2011/jun/13/dizzee-rascal-grime |title=Grime's 100 Club Moment &#124; Music |newspaper=The Guardian |date=13 June 2011 |access-date=6 February 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150218220056/http://www.theguardian.com/music/2011/jun/13/dizzee-rascal-grime |archive-date=18 February 2015 |url-status=live }}</ref> and resulted in the two exchanging [[Diss (music)|diss tracks]].

After winning a Sidewinder Award for Best Newcomer MC in 2002, Dizzee was a judge on the [[Sky1]] show ''[[Must Be The Music (TV series)|Must Be The Music]]''.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://sky1.sky.com/music |title=Dizzee, Jamie and Sharleen to judge Must Be The Music - Sky1 HD |publisher=Sky1.sky.com |access-date=6 February 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130113075244/http://sky1.sky.com/music |archive-date=13 January 2013 |url-status=live }}</ref>

He also did a verse on the Roll Deep remix of "Let's Push Things Forward" on the 2002 album ''[[Weak Become Heroes]]'' and 12" single by [[The Streets]].