- Riz Ahmed
Rizwan Ahmed, also known as Riz Ahmed or Riz MC, is an
MC andactor , born in 1984.Education
Ridhwaan was educated at Merchant Taylors' School, a boys'
independent school inNorthwood ,Middlesex . He graduated fromOxford University with a degree inPhilosophy, Politics, and Economics , and trained as an actor atCentral School of Speech and Drama . He is of Indian descent, his grandparents coming from India to Britain in the 20th century. His name is of Arabic origin and should be transliterated correctly as Ridhwaan and not Rizwan or Riz.Music
Ridhwaan Ahmed makes music under the name 'Riz MC'.
He released his first hip-hop single in 2006, Post 9/11 Blues: a controversial
satire that was temporarily banned from British airplay due to the politically sensitive lyrics.He was selected as a
BBC Introducing artist in 2007, playing theGlastonbury Festival and theBBC Electric Proms to rave reviews. He opened theMeltdown Festival with seminal Bristol-based trip-hop groupMassive Attack at the Royal Festival Hall in 2008, and was appointed Emerging Artist in Residence at the prestigious Southbank Centre in London.Acting career
*Ahmed played Sohail Waheed in the 2007
Channel 4 drama, Britz.
*He was a member of theConfidential Collective , but he received a scholarship for drama school and left in May 2005.
*He played the part ofShafiq Rasul , a member of theTipton Three , inMichael Winterbottom 's "The Road to Guantanamo ", and was detained by British intelligence while returning from its Berlin film premiere.
*A starring role inShan Khan 's "Prayer Room ."
*A role in theAsian Dub Foundation opera "Gadaffi ."
*A starring role as psychotic serial-killer-turned-born-again-Christian Lucius in Lighthouse Theater's acclaimed production ofStephen Adly Guirgis 's "Jesus Hopped the 'A' Train " (dir: Jack William Clift & Thomas Sweatman)External links
*imdb name|id=1981893|name=Riz Ahmed
* [http://www.myspace.com/rizmc Riz MC homepage]
* [http://www.bbc.co.uk/music/introducing/artists/rizmc/ Riz MC at BBC Maida Vale and Glastonbury]
* [http://www.confidentialcollective.com/ Confidential Collective]
* [http://www.telegraph.co.uk/arts/main.jhtml?xml=/arts/2005/08/24/btprayer24.xml A short, sharp shock of a play] "The Telegraph"
* [http://www.newstatesman.com/200602270006 When even actors aren't safe] "New Statesman"
* [http://arts.guardian.co.uk/news/story/0,,1750300,00.html Guardian piece on "Post 9/11 Blues"]
* [http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-2027938026025033655&sourceid=docidfeed&hl=en Google video of "Post 9/11 Blues"]
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