Timothy William Westwood is a British DJ and presenter of radio and television. He is often referred to by other DJs and artists appearing on his shows simply as Westwood. He presented the MTV UK show Pimp My Ride UK. In 2013, Westwood left BBC Radio 1 and BBC Radio 1Xtra after nearly twenty years and returned to Capital Radio.
During his career Westwood has DJed for many radio stations, including the newly formed radio stations Kiss FM and LWR in the 1980s, followed by mainstream station Capital FM. In December 1994, following a shake up of Radio 1 by the then chief executiveMatthew Bannister, he was given the new national Radio 1 Rap Show. After appearing in the 1987 BBCOpen Space documentary "Bad Meaning Good", which was an early work of his own company Justice Entertainment, he achieved TV exposure in the late 1980s, 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. His Radio 1 show was produced by his independent company Justice Entertainment, which also produced Chris Goldfinger's dancehall show for Radio 1 at the time. He was named Best UK Radio DJ in the MOBO Awards in 2000, 2003 and 2005. He is a patron of the internal radio station at Feltham Young Offenders' Institution in west London. Westwood was injured in a drive-by shooting in Kennington, South London, on 18 July 1999, after he had been playing at the Lambeth Country Show in Brockwell Park. According to police reports, gunmen on a motorbike pulled up alongside his Range Rover and shot him and his assistant.
Radio shows
Westwood hosted the Capital FM Rap Show until he left the station in 1994. He joined BBC Radio 1 in 1994 to host the first national rap show in the UK; the show was launched with a live concert with Notorious B.I.G. and Puff Daddy. The Westwood Radio 1 Rap Show was the top ranked hip hop show in the UK. At the BBC, he would also host the weekday drive time show for 1Xtra from September 2009 until he was replaced by Charlie Sloth in September 2012. After leaving the drive time show, Westwood continued his Saturday night Rap Show which now ran from 21:00 until 23:00 & was a broadcast simulcast on BBC Radio 1 and on BBC Radio 1Xtra. It was announced on 26 July 2013 that he was leaving the BBC after nearly 20 years as part of planned schedule changes, which take effect on 21 September 2013. As a result, he rejoined Capital FM on their sister station, Capital Xtra, initially occupying the 21:00-23:00 slot on Saturday nights. His show on Capital Xtra then moved to a 19:00-22:00, followed by 19:00-0:00, but his show is currently between 19:00-23:00.
Tim Westwood TV
Westwood's official YouTube channel Tim Westwood TV has over 500 million video views and over 1 million subscribers. The channel has videos of freestyles & interviews from hip-hop & grime artists, including Notorious B.I.G., Eminem, Jay-Z, Nas, Lil Wayne, Nicki Minaj, Will Smith, Drake, and Rae Sremmurd.
''Pimp My Ride''
Westwood hosted the MTV series Pimp My Ride UK which ran for three seasons, from 2005 to 2007. The show is an adaption of the American MTV series Pimp My Ride, featuring one car in each episode being renovated and customized to match the owner's interests. A special episode of the show called "Pimp Madonna's Ride" aired on MTV on Sunday 19 February 2006, the eve of the release of the single "Sorry". The interior of the van was pimped by MTV UK for the single's music video, which was filmed in London in January 2006. The exterior of the vehicle was kept original. At the time, Pimp My Ride UK was the most successful MTV UK production of all time and the second highest rated show in the history of MTV Europe.
Albums
Westwood has released 14 compilation albums. The Platinum Edition compilation was the biggest-selling British urban album of all time upon its release.
Awards
Westwood has won several awards, including the 2016 Legacy Award at the GRM Daily Rated Awards, the 2010 Radio Academy John Peel Award for Outstanding Contribution to Music and the MOBO Awards for Best Radio DJ in 2000, 2003, 2005, 2007 and 2008.
Criticism
On 6 June 2006, BBC Radio 1 and Westwood's show in particular was accused of encouraging knife and gun crime by the Leader of the Conservative Party and then Leader of the Opposition, David Cameron, who was speaking at a British Society of Magazine Editors event. Radio 1 controller Andy Parfitt responded in a Press Associationnews agency article: "There's been a debate about this particular genre of music for many years. Hip-hop is of great interest to many people in our audience. I strongly refute that any of our programmes condone violence, gun crime or knife crime". Critics have also derided Westwood's apparent Black British pronunciation and dialect. In interviews, Sacha Baron Cohen has stated that Westwood, including his accent, was an inspiration for his fictional Ali G character. Westwood has been accused in the media of giving false statements about his age and background. In 2000, at the age of 43, Westwood insisted to a Guardian journalist that he was aged 27.
