East London rap star Dizzee Rascal is lounging on a beach in the Meditterranean sun. "I'm in Ibiza," he grins down the phone.

"I did Ibiza Rocks, a concert over here, yesterday. It went really good, man, at the hotel, Ibiza Rocks Hotel, it's massive, man.

"I'm just by the beach, eating some food and relaxing. Me and my guys doing some partying tonight."

On Saturday, he's back in Ibiza to play the Radio One Weekend. But today he flies back into the UK for one night only to headline in front of a 4,000 strong audience at Kendal Calling Festival.

Now in only its third year, Kendal Calling, at Grate Farm, near the town, is an amazing success story, having doubled in size and grown to three days in length from two and attracting headline acts like Mercury nominees British Sea Power and Welsh stars Super Furry Animals.

They have just sold out for the first time in their history - and Dizzee is their biggest coup, undoubtedly a large part of the reason for the scramble for tickets.

The youngest ever Mercury Prize winner, the former Bow council estate boy Dylan Mills's first three albums have established him as Britain's premier grime pioneer and his collaborations with everyone from Arctic Monkeys to Lilly Allen have broadened his appeal across an incredible number of genres.

Currently entrenched for the first time at Number One, he's on his fourth week running at the top spot with Dance Wiv Me, another collaborative effort between himself, producer and dance star Calvin Harris and Chrome, on Dizzee's own label, Dirtee Stank.

Although sleepy Kendal is a world away from the East London estates where Dizzee comes from, he's sure of his appeal to the Kendal crowds. He says: "I relate to all kinds of festivals, man.

"I've been all around the world now, man, done so many festivals, so many different places, so many different kinds of people. It's just the music, innit? If people like the music, that's what creates the vibe, man."

Despite headlines over his recent last minute non-appearance at Z008 Festival, he insists nothing like this will happen in Kendal.

He blames contractual problems and protests: "That was down to them, man. No no, if the money's there, I'll go, man!"

He actively wants to play to different crowds, rather than stick to what he knows. He says: "It would defeat the object of what I'm doing. I'm not just doing it for a cheque.

"It's a hustle in one sense but the other side of it is, I'm trying to progress and just grow as a person. I believe you learn about the world through people, innit? It's all just people at the end of the day."
He's openly delighted at achieving his first Number One, crowing: "I didn't do it small, did I?! Four weeks! I'm happy with that!"

Listen to an interview with Dizzee by clicking on the green play above

How good was the moment when he learned he was finally Number One? "It weren't bad! It's the kind of thing I dreamed of when I was little.
"It's mad for it to be Number One for so long as well and the time it did, when I'm independent, put it out myself, the label that I was with didn't want it and the fact that it came after that album, at the last minute. Crazy.

"It was the first truly independent song in the UK to go Number One in 14 years - and the (last one] didn't do it for four weeks!"

Bizarrely, the song itself began when he and Harris got talking as they both played Radio One's Big Weekend in Preston. Dizzee grins: "Yeah, yeah, we linked up, did the whole, 'Let's make a song,' thing.

"And a couple of months down the line, eventually I asked him to send me a beat, he sent me one, didn't like it, sent me another one and it kinda went from there, back and forth. We never met to make the song. It's the new age, innit?"

But he says he's unlikely to do a similarly mainstream track again although he'd love to work again with Harris. He says: "That was my most pop.

"I don't know what's going to happen next. All I know is I want to do it bigger. So we'll see what happens, man. We're finally getting the studio properly together."

He recently parted company with his record company, XL, to revive his own label, Dirtee Stank, the independent under which he self-released his first recordings.

But he denies it's all about his own music. He says: "It was more to put out other people's music. It's because of other people's music that I made music, it really is, because they played music I liked that inspired me to pursue the dream."

Does he see himself as more than a musician, as an enabler of great music? "I don't see why not. The majority of people that are running the music business, they ain't necessarily some geniuses when it comes to music.

"They're good mathematicians or good businessmen or good hustlers but they couldn't really tell you a good song from a bad song, they just tell you is that going to sell or when am I going to get my money back. I've kinda grasped both.

"My mum instilled hustler in me from when I was little; my mum was an Avon lady! Even when I was young, I was taught to work to get money.

"Even when I got to a certain age where I did bad things for money, I still knew. Eventually I stopped and put all my work into what I was doing.

"To be fair, I never stopped music. Whatever I did, I never stopped working at music. I've had it instilled into me to worry about business as well as artistry. For me, the artistry still comes first. But there is no one without the other."

He has famously credited music with saving him from the life of crime he had begun drifting into. But today, he insists: "I saved myself.

"I don't think I really cared about the same things. Robbing, stealing, selling drugs, whatever. In the heat of the moment, it could be a bit thrilling or whatever and you get a little money out of it.

"But I weren't the type of kid that really cared about a gold chain or a watch. I might have wanted the latest pair of trainers, it would be nice to have a nice new tracksuit or whatever.

"But I didn't think it through that deep. I didn't really want to stand in the club with a bottle of champagne, it didn't really mean that much to me. But making a good song did. And putting in those hours at 5 in the morning or going on to pirate radio at three in the morning and going to school the next day... I didn't mind putting in the work for that."

* Dizzee Rascal plays the Kendal Calling Festival tonight (Fri, Aug 1). Tickets are sold out.

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