Elton John is about to do for Just Jack what he did for James Blunt. The music legend helped break Blunt worldwide by championing him at every opportunity.

Now he's doing the same with London DJ and rapper Just Jack - real name Jack Allsopp - who is a mixture of The Streets, Massive Attack, Mylo and the Audio Bullys.

The rapper revealed: "Elton heard my first album, The Outer Marker, in 2003, mentioned it at the Q Awards and made it one of his albums of the year when he guest-edited Time Out. When my old label went bust he helped me get signed to Mercury.

"He's become a friend. He invited me to his wedding reception and I've been to his house. We talk music mainly, which is really all I want to talk about. He's a real music lover and he really helped me get to where I am today."

And how does Jack feel about following in the footsteps of James Blunt? He laughed: "I'm not allowed to comment." Jack's music, thankfully, is very different to Blunt's stuff. He mixes hip-hop, funk and acoustic harmonies with The Streets-style everyday observations.

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