Inside Dappy’s chaotic life since N-Dubz split – from bitter band feuds to police trouble and scandalous CBB appearance
N-DUBZ were at the top of their game in the Noughties, with a slew of hit records and a number one single – but since their 2011 split, they’ve virtually disappeared off the radar.
Now, releasing new music for the first time in over a decade, Dappy, Tulisa and Fazer – who won Best Newcomer in 2007 and Best Album and Best Act in 2009 at the MOBOs – are back together.
But it hasn’t been plain sailing for any of the three members – especially Dappy – since they went on their indefinite hiatus following the release of a Greatest Hits album in 2011.
From getting into trouble with the police to naked showers on Celebrity Big Brother, we take a look at what the band’s most controversial member has been up to in the decade since the split.
Bitter band split
Dappy, Fazer and Tulisa originally said they were just taking a break when they disbanded in 2011.
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But a year later, it was clear there was more to it when Tulisa went on a bitter Twitter rant against Dappy.
While he was publicly saying how much he missed his cousin and friend, Tulisa insisted he’d not made any contact with her at all.
The former X Factor judge tweeted: “U know my number mate..I dont know urs cus u aint gave it 2 me since u changed it…so dont gass the fans, u wana talk Im here.
“Serious man I hold it down, dont make me start talkin real cus u won’t like it nor will the fans, allow twitter,man up n call me.”
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Trouble with the law
Even when Dappy was one third of N-Dubz, he would be getting in trouble with the police.
In 2007, the 34-year-old rapper was given 40 hours of community service for battery after a scuffle with a taxi driver who he allegedly pushed in Camden, north London.
Then, in 2008, it was found that Dappy had spat at two women on a drunken night out. For each count of this, he received four weeks’ imprisonment, suspended for 12 months, 100 hours community service, and an order to pay £50 compensation to the girls and £300 costs.
A few years later, in 2013, Dappy narrowly avoided a maximum sentence of three years, after he was involved in a brawl in Guildford with a man and two women.
The singer was given a six-month sentence suspended for 18 months for assault and affray and ordered to do 150 hours of community service. He was also ordered to pay £4,500 compensation and £2,000 in costs.
Dappy was also fined £800 in 2014 for slapping a man at a club in Essex, and a year later breached his suspended sentence for punching a clubber on the dance floor of a club in Reading, but again did not face a custodial sentence.
In 2016, the star was accused of trashing a £1.7 million Grade-II Hertfordshire home he had previously lived in with his ex Kaye Vassell, and their three children.
He allegedly left windows smashed, furniture broken, and nappies strewn on the floors, but he insisted the damage was done after he left.
In 2017, he was arrested by armed police after allegedly “hitting a woman with a tennis racket”.
In the same year, Dappy was convicted of possession of a bladed article in a public place following a row with his next partner, Imani Campbell.
He waved a knife at neighbours and threatened to get his “boys” round, which led to him being behind bars for a month on remand at Peterborough Prison.
The final sentence was nine months suspended for two years, which the judge decided on due to Imani claiming she “couldn’t ask for a better father and partner.”
Celebrity Big Brother controversy
Dappy went into the Celebrity Big Brother house in 2014 – and somehow came second, despite some very controversial moments.
He was reprimanded by producers for using homophobic language when Jasmine Waltz asked him if he had ever performed an oral sex act on himself.
He was also branded a “sexist, chauvinistic bigot” by Luisa Zissman after claiming women who sleep with multiple men in a single night are “disgusting”.
Despite this huge row, the pair did also have a naked shower session together!
Calling fans ‘fat, ugly pig’
Away from the CBB house, Dappy has angered lots of fans along the way too.
In 2010, N-Dubz appeared on The Chris Moyles Show.
When the show received a text message from a woman complaining that Dappy was “vile” and “a little boy with a silly hat” and called N-Dubz “losers,” the rapper secretly noted down the woman’s phone number from the studio console, and sent threatening messages to her phone.
Dappy’s management apologised on his behalf and offered free tickets to one of his concerts, but the rapper did not personally apologise to the woman.
His fans were also left furious at a 2017 gig after he apparently kept them waiting for nearly four hours, just to leave the stage 11 minutes later.
Even in 2020, Dappy called a 21-year-old fan a “stupid cow” and a “little b***h” after she called his music her “guilty pleasure”.
The next month, he proceeded to call another female fan a “fat, ugly pig” after she said she liked his music.
Saved man’s life
Dappy did pick up some positive headlines, however, as he helped save a man’s life last year, talking him down from London’s Tower Bridge.
The rapper had been filming a music video when he saw police cars and ambulances in the area.
A video posted on Instagram by Dappy’s girlfriend, Imani, showed him asking the police if he could speak to the man.
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In another post, Imani wrote: “I truly believe the universe sent us to that bridge so Daps could save this young man’s life. As soon as he recognised Daps his whole demeanour changed, we saw hope appear in his eyes…
“Daps told him his life is precious and that he loves him… he talked him off the bridge… the man and his family reached out and he is alive and well.”