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Tim Westwood (born 1958 , though he has claimed at times to be younger) is a British Rap DJ and presenter of the BBC Radio 1 Rap Show. During his career, Tim Westwood has DJed for many Radio stations, including the newly formed Pirate Radio stations Kiss FM (which he co-owned) and LWR in the 1980s , followed by mainstream station Capital FM (from about 1987 or 1988 ), before joining BBC Radio 1 in December 1994 . 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. He also organises live performances for Radio 1. Westwood is heavily involved in the rap scene and is noted to be one of the early broadcasters and promoters of rap music. He was named "Best UK Radio DJ" in the MOBO (Music Of Black Origin) Awards in 2000 and 2003 . In interviews, Westwood has said that he has strong moral convictions, and that he does not drink or take drugs. While Westwood plays mainly songs that achieve mainstream success, and has been criticised for concentrating on artists such as Jay-Z or 50 Cent , he has produced or mixed several tracks for more obscure recording artists. His first broadcast on a legal station appears to have been on March 23 , 1985 , when he was a pirate DJ, in a BBC Radio programme called ''Meridian'' where he discussed early Hip-hop culture in London . After appearing in the 1987 BBC ''Open Space'' documentary ''Bad Meaning Good'', he achieved early TV exposure in the late 1980s fronting a slot 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. He also had a show on the hip-hop-orientated Channel U , and currently presents the UK version of the MTV show '' Pimp My Ride ''. In March 2006 on Radio 1, he teamed up with Scott Mills for an one off appearance to co-present the Top 40 chart show. He recently appeared on the hugely popular Soccer AM show, where he pointed out that he was a DJ and not a rapper and joked about the dangers of being shot. Westwood was treated in hospital for bullet wounds, to his lower right arm, after a drive-by shooting in Kennington, South London, on July 18 , 1999 . {Link without Title} Catchphrase s include:
Westwood has also released numerous Rap Compilation Album s selling over 1.7 million albums to date {Link without Title} . He uses numerous sound effects in his show, including the bomb drop, air horn and spud gun shots. CRITICISMS It has often been asserted, most recently in a column in , Westwood claimed in the NME that Baron Cohen had told him that he had based Ali G not on Westwood himself, but on the "white, provincial" hip-hop fans who phoned up his show. Critics such as was the Anglican Bishop Of Peterborough until 1996 (and was himself a prolific broadcaster). He also (briefly) attended Norwich School, Norwich , which is now a private cathedral grammar school (though it would have been a direct-grant grammar school at the time); on air on April 29 2006 Westwood tacitly alluded to this, claiming to "deny everything" and that he briefly attended an (unnamed) school which he had disliked intensely, going on to comment that he mainly attended Hewitt School in Norwich , but that this school would not be interested in him now. It has been claimed that his departure from Norwich School may have been connected to the fact that he has Dyslexia . Public reactions to Westwood from all sides arguably say a lot about the complex, conflicted nature of racial and cultural relations in modern Britain . The Now Show on BBC Radio 4 often joke about Westwood; this could be said to represent white, Middle Class mockery of hip-hop culture more generally and White People who adopt it in particular. During the 1990s the British hip hop group Jeep Beat Collective , who could be said to represent the more "militant Left-wing " axis of opposition to the DJ, released a song about him called "Tim Westwood is a Twat". DISCOGRAPHY
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