Official Chart Flashback 2008: Dizzee Rascal, Dance Wiv Me

East London rapper Dizzee Rascal gets his first Number 1 thanks to the wizardry of Calvin Harris.

Some popstars get their success in an instant, while others have to bide their time until they take their turn in the spotlight. And for some, well, it’s a little bit of both.

Although Dizzee Rascal’s debut album Boy In Da Corner won the Mercury Music Prize in a blaze of publicity and critical acclaim, it would take him another five years to get the ultimate prize – a Number 1 on the Official Singles Chart. And who better to help him do it than rising star, Scottish DJ and producer Calvin Harris?

Despite enjoying nine Top 40 singles before Dance Wiv Me, Dizzee had only scored one Top 10 hit with Stand Up Tall. Calvin was also at the very start of his chart career, managing to hit Top 10 with his first two singles Acceptable In The ‘80s and The Girls in 2007. Dance Wiv Me was a first chart-topper for them both, and got everybody paying attention to the cheeky London rapper and his Dumfries-born chum. And the track’s success wasn’t down to just the two of them – R&B singer Chrome also lent his vocals to the summer smash.

Watch the video before we reveal Dizzee and Calvin’s biggest selling singles:

Dizzee Rascal - Dance Wiv Me on MUZU.TV.

Dance Wiv Me spent four weeks at the top and has sold over 600,000 copies, ending up the 12th biggest seller of 2008. It’s the second biggest selling single for both Dizzee and Calvin – for Dizzee the honour goes to Dance Wiv Me’s follow-up Bonkers with Armand van Helden, which has sold over 665,000 copies. For Calvin, it’s that little-known collaboration with Rihanna, you may have heard of it? It is, of course, We Found Love, which has chalked up a mighty 1.3 million copies and is part of the Official Charts million sellers’ club.

For Dizzee Rascal, it would be the first of three consecutive Number 1 singles; he would go on to have five altogether: Dance Wiv Me, Bonkers, Holiday (again with Chrome and Calvin), Dirtee Disco and Shout, with Shout for England and James Corden – the unofficial anthem of the England football team for the 2010 World Cup in South Africa.

Calvin Harris managed a few more chart-toppers too: Holiday & I’m Not Alone in 2009, We Found Love in 2011 and Sweet Nothing with Florence Welch in 2012.

Elsewhere in the Top 5 this week back in 2008, McFly grabbed a new entry at Number 2 with One For The Radio, their 14th Top 10 hit on the Official Singles Chart in a row. It would be the last time Tom Fletcher, Danny Jones, Harry Judd and Dougie Poynter would appear in the Top 3, but they have gone on to score six more Top 40 hits.

At Number 3, US rock-rapper Kid Rock moved up three places with All Summer Long, which heavily sampled Lynyrd Skynyrd’s classic Sweet Home Alabama. Kid Rock would eventually replace Dizzee and Calvin at the top of the charts for one week only. It was his third Top 40 hit and, so far, it's his last.

At Number 4, Swedish electronic DJ and producer Basshunter was celebrating a third week in the Top 5 with All I Ever Wanted. The track, which followed the huge Number 1 Now You’re Gone, peaked at Number 2. While Basshunter would go on to score five more Top 40 entries on the Official Singles Chart, All I Ever Wanted was his last Top 10.

Rounding off the Top 5 was a collaboration between American Idol winner Jordin Sparks and Chris Brown. No Air’s peak chart position of Number 3 is the highest for Jordin so far. Chris Brown scored his first Number 1 in 2012 with Turn Up The Music.