Dizzee Rascal gets music prize

British music aficionados are dizzy for Dizzee.

Topping significantly higher-profile acts including Radiohead, Coldplay and Floetry, 18-year-old East London rapper Dizzee Rascal was named winner of the 2003 Panasonic Mercury Music Prize, awarded to the best album by a British act.

Rascal’s “Boy in Da Corner,” a raw and gritty chronicle of life in the streets of London, is the MC and producer’s debut album, and was released in July in England, but has not been released in the U.S.

The winner is chosen by a panel of judges composed of musicians, critics and record producers. Previous winners include singer-songwriters PJ Harvey and Badly Drawn Boy.

-- Randy Lewis