www.facebok.com/rizmc 'ENGLISTAN' SHORT FILM + INTERVIEW DAZED: http://www.dazeddigital.com/music/article/30882/1/heading-for-the-british-asian-underground-with-riz-mc FADER: http://www.thefader.com/2016/05/11/riz-mc-englistan-mixtape ENGLISTAN is a raw, personal exploration of identity, as well as an unflinching portrayal of multiculturalism not as a buzzword, but as lived experience. The approach is suitably eclectic, fusing rap rooted in uk double time MCing with spoken word, over left-field grime, hip-hop, and classical influences. At a time of rising Islamaphobia in Europe and the US, the threat of a Trump presidency alongside the election of London's first Muslim Mayor, this is a timely release that challenges us to stretch the flag until it's big enough for all of us. Riz grew up in a working-class Pakistani community but won scholarships to private schools and Oxford. "Living between different worlds like that was enriching, violent, and confusing" (this short film he made pretty much sums it up). As a result he's always been fascinated with identity, and Englistan is a continuation of that theme. After cutting his teeth on pirate radio station and making name for himself in London's rap battle circuit he released a techno influenced EP, RADAR, on Crosstown Rebels, in 2009, followed by a widely lauded LP 'MICroscope' on Tru Thoughts in 2012. His last music release was with Heems, as one half of the SWET SHOP BOYS in 2014, with a mixtape that fused NY, LDN, Indian and Pakistani sounds. In 2016 Riz will release a solo album as well as an SSB album. As an actor he has starred in cult classics such as Four Lions, Shifty, iLL manors, and Nightcrawler, and this year will appear in the Jason Bourne and Star Wars films, as well as in HBO's THE NIGHT OF.