Tim Westwood

Tim Westwood (born 3 October 1957) is an English DJ and presenter of radio and television. He is often referred to by other DJs and artists appearing on his shows simply as Westwood. He presented the UK version of the MTV show Pimp My Ride. In 2013, Westwood left BBC Radio 1 and BBC Radio 1Xtra after nearly twenty years and returned to Capital Radio.^[3]

Early life

The son of Bill Westwood, former Anglican Bishop of Peterborough,^[4] Westwood grew up around East Anglia, attending the independent Norwich School, before later attending a local comprehensive.^[5]

DJ career

During his career Westwood has DJed for many radio stations, including the newly formed radio stations Kiss FM (which he co-owned) and LWR in the 1980s, followed by mainstream station Capital FM (from 1987). In December 1994, following a shake up of Radio 1 by the then chief executive Matthew Bannister, he was given the new and somewhat innovative national Radio 1 Rap Show. He was the Radio 1 Rap Show's first presenter and has been its only permanent presenter; he is now one of Radio 1's longest-serving broadcasters.

His first broadcast on a legal station appears to have been on 23 March 1985, when he was already working as a pirate DJ. He was a guest on a BBC World Service programme called Meridian where he discussed early hip-hop culture in London. After appearing in the 1987 BBC Open Space documentary Bad Meaning Good, which was an early work of his own company Justice Entertainment, he achieved TV exposure in the late 1980s on the ITV programme Night Network, produced by London Weekend Television.

More recently, he presented a series of his own television programme on UKTV channel UK Play, which has since ceased broadcasting. His Radio 1 show is produced by his independent company Justice Entertainment, which also produces Chris Goldfinger's dancehall show for Radio 1.

In the late 1980s, his name was often mentioned in British rap records, as he was the only well-known DJ playing hip hop on legal radio in Britain. He was named Best UK Radio DJ in the MOBO (Music of Black Origin) Awards in 2000, 2003 and 2005. He is a patron of the internal radio station at Feltham Young Offenders' Institution in west London.^[6]

Westwood was injured in a drive-by shooting in Kennington, South London, on 18 July 1999, after he had been playing at the Lambeth Country Show in Brockwell Park. According to police reports, gunmen on a motorbike pulled up alongside his Range Rover and shot him and his assistant.^[7][8]

Shows

Westwood hosted the Capital FM Rap Show until he left the station in 1994. He joined BBC Radio 1 in 1994 to host the first national rap show in the UK, the show was launched with a live concert with Notorious B.I.G. & Puff Daddy.^[9][10] At the BBC, he hosted the weekday drivetime show for 1Xtra until he was replaced by Charlie Sloth in September 2012.^[11][12] Westwood therefore took over the show on Saturday nights which runs from 21:00 until 23:00 which was broadcast simulcast on BBC Radio 1 and on BBC Radio 1Xtra. It was announced on 26 July 2013 that he was leaving the BBC after nearly 20 years as part of planned schedule changes, which take effect on 21 September 2013.^[13] As a result, he rejoined Capital FM on their sister station, Capital Xtra, initially occupying the 21:00 to 23:00 slot on Saturday nights.^[14] As of 2015, the showtime was extended from 19:00 to 0:00.^[15]

Tim Westwood TV

Westwood's official YouTube channel Tim Westwood TV has over 191 million video views and over 230,000 subscribers.^[16] The channel has videos of freestyles & interviews from hip-hop & grime artists, including Notorious B.I.G.,^[17] Eminem,^[18] Jay-Z,^[19] Nas,^[20] Lil Wayne,^[21] Nicki Minaj,^[22] Will Smith,^[23] Drake,^[24] and Rae Sremmurd.^[25]

Criticism

On 6 June 2006, BBC Radio 1 and Westwood's show in particular was accused of encouraging knife and gun crime by the Leader of the Conservative Party and then Leader of the Opposition, David Cameron,^[26] who was speaking at a British Society of Magazine Editors event. Radio 1 controller Andy Parfitt responded in a Press Association news agency article: "There's been a debate about this particular genre of music for many years. Hip-hop is of great interest to many people in our audience. I strongly refute that any of our programmes condone violence, gun crime or knife crime".^[27]

Critics have also derided Westwood's apparent emulation of Black British pronunciation and dialect, which is claimed to be at odds with his white middle-class British origins.^[28] In response to this Westwood stated "Honestly, baby, I get love out there, pure and simple".^[29] His father, Bill Westwood, was the Anglican Bishop of Peterborough until 1996, and a regular contributor to BBC Radio, particularly Thought for the Day on the BBC Radio 4 Today programme.

In interviews, Sacha Baron Cohen has stated that Westwood, including his fake Caribbean accent, was an inspiration for his fictional Ali G character.^[30]

Westwood has been accused in the press of giving false statements about his age and background.^[31] In 2000, at age 43, Westwood insisted to a Guardian journalist that he was aged 27.^[32]

Discography

• Street Beats
• Westwood Volume 1
• Westwood Volume 2
• Westwood Volume 3
• UK Hip Hop 2002 Volume 1
• Westwood Platinum Edition 2003
• Westwood: The Jump Off
• Westwood 6: The Takeover
• Westwood 7: The Big Dawg
• Westwood 8: The Invasion
• Westwood Heat: Volume 9
• Westwood X
• Westwood 11: Ride with the Big Dawg
• Westwood: The Greatest

DVD

• Westwood Raw DVD

References

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Tim Westwood.

• Official website
• Tim Westwood's channel on YouTube