Tim Westwood

This guy is ridiculous...

You've been nominated for two Mobos [best club DJ and best radio DJ]. Last year when you won best DJ, you were booed. Why?

If I was those other DJs I would be mad: this dude has won it four times, this dude is rocking Pimp My Ride like crazy, this guy has been No 1 in the game for 20 years. I'd be mad, I'd be booing. Those guys wanted to piss on my parade but that wasn't going to happen.

Some people have said you play too much US hip-hop, and that you don't champion UK music enough.

Oh man, those cats really ain't paying attention. I've championed UK from day one. On Sundays, I do a show which is nothing but grime artists. We play UK music on every show I've ever done. For anyone to say I don't support UK, find something else to hate me for, but don't hate me for that because you're getting that wrong.

People say that you pretend to be from the "street" when you're really middle-class. Do those comments bother you?

I don't see that, it's not on my radar.

You must hear it?

Honestly, baby, I get love out there, pure and simple. I'm DJing every night this week, those people who come to those parties are paying money to see me. The people who listen to the radio show listen because they love the show as part of their lives, they've grown up to it. If people don't understand me, that's their loss, man.

Is it that they don't understand you or they are confused by you? Because there seem to be two Westwoods; there's the one sitting here now, quiet and considered, and then there's the Westwood on the radio.

I'm in the entertainment game. If you come to a Westwood party, you want some energy, you want some excitement, you want me to tear it down. Now, I couldn't invite you to a Westwood party and just be sitting here chillin', kicking it back with some serious issues. You're not coming out for that. You're coming out for entertainment, you want to get your drink on, get your party on, meet girls, meet guys, whatever. But if I was screaming into your mic now, that's not going to work because we're talking about some real things here, this is talking seriously now - it's time to put your serious face on, not your game face - but it's still me.

But you must know that if you calmed down a bit, if you turned it down maybe four or five levels, you'd get less flack?

If people stumble across me and think I'm an idiot, well that's fine, but I'm not an idiot to my audience, man. I'm the hottest cat out there for my audience.

Your father was a bishop, you were born in Lowestoft, and yet you're a hip-hop DJ. Why do you think people are so interested in your upbringing?

Maybe they would want me to be a 25-year-old black guy from the 'hood, from the endz, but I'm not and I'm not making any apology for that. I never said I was that and I don't aspire to be that. I am who I am. On the show the other day I was laughing about coming from Lowestoft. I had an artist on who was from Hackney and he was all, "Howz the manz dem in Lowestoft? What's the endz like in Norwich?" It's fun, no one has a problem with it. That would be like me saying "Trevor Phillips [he means McDonald] shouldn't be reading the news, I want to see a white guy on there." Now, obviously I'm not saying that, but if somebody did say that, it'd be a fucked-up thing. So why isn't it a fucked-up thing if you're saying that to me?

Full interview here.