Rizzle Kicks

And the numbers don’t lie. Back in August 2011, Jordan and Harvey Alexander-Sule were still finishing off their debut album Stereo Typical, which since its release in October last year has now gone platinum – selling more than 300,000 copies.

And in terms of live shows their stock has risen from the 150-capacity Green Door Store in August 2011, to playing the 5,400 capacity Brighton Centre over two close-to-sold-out nights.

“Sometimes it’s a little hard to think about,” admits Jordan. “The fact we are even in the Brighton Centre is amazing. The Dome was big enough – that was quite a moment for us.”

The pair first met as toddlers through Jordan’s aunt and Harley’s stepdad, who both worked at record label Rykodisc, before both moving to Brighton and playing for the same football team Seagulls AMB at the age of 11.

Strong bond

Having gone to different secondary schools, Harley at Dorothy Stringer High School, and Jordan at Blatchington Mill, they first began to truly bond in their two years at the BRIT School.

It was there that Rizzle Kicks began, when Harley put some vocals on a track Jordan was recording.

Their brand of classic old school hip-hop – with lyrics eschewing the world of gangsters and guns for good times – has proved a real winner ever since the release of the massive summer hit Get Down With The Trumpets.

“We are like yin and yang,” says Jordan of his collaborator Harley. “We work off each other.

“In a way we ground each other. It is important to have people around you that have known you for ever.”

Now based in London, they still live near each other but Jordan says it’s important they have their own space.

“I think we relax in different ways,” he says. “I’m into my television and cinema. One of my mates has started crashing at Harley’s place, so we often meet up and talk rubbish.

“We have a tendency to consciously do nothing in the time we have off – there’s always a constant want to achieve something.”

That said Jordan admits the pair have been pretty prolific when it comes to writing material for the follow-up to Stereo Typical.

“We’re quite a way into the second album,” he says. “It’s more about trying to cut down the amount of stuff we have done into digestible chunks. It’s not going to be out for a few months yet – we’ve got some difficult decisions to make.”

He feels the forthcoming album is a progression, although he is still very proud of Stereo Typical.

“I think we have come on as songwriters in the short time we’ve been around,” he says. “Maybe it is the places we have seen and the people we have spoken to. We are growing up, and the music is reflecting that. It’s onwards and upwards – it feels bigger and stronger.”

In some ways it feels like the band is on its fifth album rather than their second.

“We have to keep reminding ourselves that we’re 20, not 27,” he laughs. “There’s not a huge pressure to deliver.

“The mantra is that we only ever release something we genuinely enjoy. It’s what we feel are reflections of us – I would rather be disliked for being ourselves rather than being liked for something we’re not.”

The pair were invited onto Damon Albarn’s Africa Express tour this September, something which Jordan says has stayed with them.

“We’re not using African sounds or anything like that,” he says. “The experience was life-changing. We have kept in touch with Damon ever since and most of the artists we collaborated with. It was a hugely enlightening experience.”

When it comes to working with big names, Rizzle Kicks have an impressive back roster, from appearing onstage at the Olympic Torch celebrations at Hyde Park with Dizzee Rascal and The Wanted, to hitting number one with the Olly Murs collaboration Heart Skips A Beat.

But when it comes to famous meetings there are two which stand out for Jordan.

“I still find it hard to believe that we released a song with Fatboy Slim,” he says. “Being with big names and meeting huge people you go into autopilot and act like it’s normal.

“I saw the actor Stephen Graham in This Is England and Boardwalk Empire and was a big fan. He came up to me at a premiere and said he loved our music, which spun me out.”

Another way the band is keeping themselves grounded is by making sure they don’t get complacent.

“I’m very much a person who resets their targets to collate with how well we are doing,” he says. “I’m looking to carry on achieving.

“I would like to write for TV and film, and Harley wants to act. Breaking the US gets mentioned to us a lot. We have been picked up by some US blogs, but it can be a mistake going over there and dedicating half a year to breaking the US, especially with the style of music we make.

Enjoying success

“We want to create an album that creates a ripple which crosses over. We’d rather make a big splash in a small pond than a small splash in a big one.”

For now though the pair are still surfing the wave their debut album has caused, from “pinch me” moments on stage to seeing themselves in tabloids and magazines.

“When we were on T4 On The Beach this year I thought ‘F***ing hell, last year we were playing the small stage’,” he says. “Now we were the headliners in front of 60,000 people. The feeling was ridiculous.

“Stepping out with Jessie J at Wembley Stadium in front of 80,000 people was crazy, even though it was only for a minute.”

The pair joined Jessie J to rap on Price Tag at the 2012 Summertime Ball in June – another major highlight in a crazy year.

Luckily the darker side of fame hasn’t come knocking yet.

“We’ve been in magazines and papers,” he says. “The world of celebrity is very shallow, but it’s fun. The first time we were put in Now or whatever we thought it was quite cool.

“Our private lives haven’t been invaded so far. When your face is in the public you become more public property – you always seem to be on the brink of a breakdown or illness. I just make sure I know what’s going on before it happens and hopefully I won’t get f***ed over.

“If I was to turn around and say something stupid or associate myself with the wrong person and allow it to take over my whole life and career then I would lose my career.

“My outlook is to make decent music for years.

“We got offered the chance to go onto I’m A Celebrity Get Me Out Of Here and s*** but we have only been around a year. I don’t want to feel like I’m in the later stages of a career already.”

The pair’s Brighton Centre shows are the last on their current tour, and Jordan feels they are Rizzle Kicks’ strongest shows so far.

“The set feels like an accurate reflection of our first album,” he says.

“Every time we go onstage it feels like the set is only three minutes long which is a good feeling. We’re really looking forward to going back to our home town and showing them how far we have come.”

Support from Mikill Pane, Little Nikki and Running Dogs.

• Brighton Centre, King’s Road, Thursday, December 6, and Friday, December 7. Doors 6.30pm, tickets £15. Call 0844 8471515

Rise To Fame

June 2011 - Promo single Prophet (Better Watch It) is released as a free download.

July 2011 - The band make their first appearance in The Argus when Stephen Fry reveals he’s a fan of Rizzle Kicks on Twitter – and is invited to appear in their next video.

August 2011 - Single Down With The Trumpets breaks into the top ten and rises throughout the month to number two.

Jordan and Harley join Gary Barlow, Tulisa, Tinchy Stryder, Wretch 32 and Ed Sheeran on the Children In Need single Teardrop.

Dominic Smith interviews Harley ahead of the duo’s sold out New Music Showcase at the Green Door Store. He talks about Brighton’s hip-hop scene.

“When we first moved to Brighton the hip hop scene was awesome. It was all upbeat, sample-based, happy horns.

“We just love that happy element. We’d call ourselves hip-hop pop.”

At the end of the month Rizzle Kicks top the chart with their Olly Murs collaboration Heart Skips A Beat.

September 2011 - Rizzle Kicks are nominated for three MOBO Awards for best newcomer, best hip-hop/grime act and best video for Down With The Trumpets. The following month The Guide reveals they sadly missed out on all three.

October 2011 - Single When I Was A Youngster is released, breaking the top ten.

November 2011 - Debut album Stereo Typical enters the album chart at number nine.

January 2012 - The pair are nominated for a Brit Award for their single with Olly Murs. They later play at the ceremony.

Mama Do The Hump reaches number two in the singles charts. James Corden appears in the video.

February 2012 - The pair’s Brighton Centre date is announced as part of a 14-date tour also including Brixton Academy. Ahead of that Jordan and Harley join Olly Murs onstage as surprise guests during his Brighton Centre date to perform Heart Skips A Beat.

Later that month Rizzle Kicks are announced as headliners at September’s Bestival on the Isle Of Wight. Their summer festival schedule also includes appearances at V, Camp Bestival, Wireless, Wakestock, T In The Park, and Evolution.

March 2012 - Rizzle Kicks appear on Jonathan Ross’s ITV show.

Ahead of two sold out shows at Concorde 2 news comes that tickets are all gone for their April appearance at Brighton Dome Concert Hall.

Later in the tour TV funnyman Harry Hill joins Rizzle Kicks onstage at London’s Shepherds Bush Empire to play banjolele on Mama Do The Hump.

April 2012 - Jordan and Harley are offered free driving lessons after failing their tests as part of a BBC Radio 1 show.

Single Traveller’s Chant is released.

Jordan and Harley become patrons of Audio Active, the Brighton-based charity supporting aspiring teenage musicians – having worked with them when they were starting out.

At the end of the month Jordan and Harley open three refurbished rooms for teenagers at Brighton’s Royal Alexandra Children’s Hospital. The pair spend time giving autographs, speaking to patients and playing table football.

May 2012 - Rizzle Kicks are announced as the special guests at a free concert at Sussex County Cricket’s PROBIZ Stadium in Hove in front of 10,000 people to mark the arrival of the Olympic Torch.

The pair are also set to play at Hasting’s Stade Open Space and London’s Hyde Park as part of the celebrations.

It is revealed the pair have sold 300,000 albums, and more than one million singles.

June 2012 - All 10,000 tickets are snapped up in 45 minutes for Rizzle Kicks’ Olympic torch show at the PROBIZ Stadium.

Single When I Was A Youngster is revealed as being on Danny Boyle’s draft Best Of British playlist for the Olympic opening ceremony.

Rizzle Kicks’ headline slot on T4 On The Beach in Weston-super-Mare is broadcast on Channel Four.

July 2012 - Rizzle Kicks headline the Olympic Torch celebrations in Hove and Hastings, as well as appearing at Hyde Park and carrying the torch in Eastbourne.

August 2012 - Rizzle Kicks are nominated for The Argus Achiever Of The Year Award 2012.

The pair film an appearance for Rihanna’s new Sky Living show Styled To Rock.

The sixth single from the Stereo Typical album, Dreamers, is released.

September 2012 - Departing BBC Radio 1 breakfast DJ Chris Moyles records a track with the pair, and welcomes them onto his penultimate show.

Mama Do The Hump is nominated in the best song category at the Q Awards.

Rizzle Kicks join the Africa Express tour – crossing the UK by train to play a series of concerts alongside the likes of drummer Tony Allen, former Libertine Carl Barât and Malian kora legend Toumani Diabaté.

November 2012 - Rizzle Kicks are nominated for a European Urban Music Award for best group.

Jordan and Harley prepare to play their biggest Brighton shows to date with two headline gigs at the Brighton Centre.