ARTIST / BAND: Dizzee Rascal
SONG (MP3): Where Da G's Featuring UGK
ALBUM: Dizzee 12"
FILE UNDER: Grime / Hip Hop
LABEL: XL Recordings/Dirtee Stank Recordings/Def Jux
INFO: “ABC,” as the Jackson Five once put it, “it’s easy as 1-2-3”: Dizzee
Rascal’s third album, “Maths & English,” is the most complete,
intense and thrilling British hip-hop record ever made. Bar none. From
the Korn-inspired metal guitars of the barnstorming first single
“Sirens,” to the vivacious Bugsy Malone-inspired backchat of Lily Allen
(on the irresistible “Wannabe”), every track on this album seems to
find a new way of grabbing the listener’s attention. But the amazing
thing about “Maths & English” is the way the huge number of
different styles and ideas that it showcases come together as the
perfect vehicle for one man’s voice. Whether Dizzee is going mano a
mano with American gangsta rap legends Bun B and Pimp C (“Where’s Da
G’s”) or paying his dues to his UK heritage by collaborating with drum
and bass legend Shy FX; whether he’s sampling Lyn Collins on the
straightest hip-hop track he’s ever done (“Pussy’ole”) or going way out
there to a Martial Arts film soundtrack of knives being sharpened
(“World Outside”), it never takes more than half a bar of his raw,
guttural, urgent rhyming to realise you’re in the presence of the
Rasket.
Sergi Gvarjaladze
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