Dizzee Rascal Albums (2)
What The Critics Say
Until Definitive Jux got involved, physical copies of Dizzee Rascal's third album were not distributed in the U.S. The Definitive Jux version of Maths and English followed roughly ten months after the original U.K. release on XL -- baffling since the album is more likely to appeal to the average U.S. hip-hop fan than either 2003's Boy in da Corner or 2004's Showtime, not only due to an appearance from Texas underground giants UGK on "Where's da G's." Another obstacle is that, due to sample clearance issues in the U.S., one of the album's most hip-hop tracks, "Pussyole (Old Skool)" -- with its use of the well-known break from Lyn Collins' "Think (About It)" -- had to be left off Definitive Jux copies. Even without it, the album is even more of a grime disconnect than Showtime, often more rooted in Southern bounce than anything else. Only "U Can't Tell Me Nuffin'" resembles the Dizzee of old from a production standpoint, its perturbed bass thrums and synth-string stuns, chirps, and sound-shards served up in a circular gait; it's buried near the end of the album. At the other end of the sequence, however, is "Sirens," a tense narrative over a chaotic production that throws neck-snapping percussion, head-banging guitars, and sound effects into a whirlwind of manic energy worthy of early agitated Cypress Hill. That track, as well as the others mentioned above, stand out most, with only a couple others rivaling them. While Dizzee can still drop a bewildering rhyme while being an MC of greater skill than before, his developments are not strictly for the better, as heard on "Hard Back (Industry)" (where he dishes out tired wisdom about the recording industry), the pointlessly and relentlessly crude "Suk My Dik" (i.e., "I do not care about haters, but here are some rhymes about how much I dislike them and what they can do"), and the Lily Allen feature "Wanna Be" (a lighthearted, amusing track with no replay value). It's Dizzee at his least unique and least riveting, both sonically and lyrically, thus far. ~ Andy Kellman, All Music Guide
What The Critics Say
There are a couple possibly distressing things about Dizzee Rascal's second album, released almost exactly a year after his breakthrough debut. In the wake of the Streets' ambitious A Grand Don't Come for Free, its title -- Showtime -- conjures frights about a concept record strangled by ruminations on newfound fame and all the accompanying trappings. Dizzee being such a product of his environment, as Boy in da Corner conveyed with stark original clarity, it'd be a shame to see the producer/MC stagger down the trodden-flat route of the average lyricist who has tasted a smidgen of glory, real or make-believe: how many people crave another slew of verses about gold-digging women and crew members who have morphed into greedy coattail riders? This paranoia is compounded by pre-release rumors of Dizzee American-izing his sound, sacrificing individuality for the sake of widespread appeal. Thankfully, it turns out that there really isn't much worth worrying about. If Showtime isn't the equal artistic success of Boy in da Corner, it's slightly superior, stunning for the facts that it arrives so swiftly after the debut and is far from a retread. At the risk of backpedaling ever so slightly, it is troubling that the female-male politics of Boy in da Corner's "I Luv U" are replaced with the slightly noxious lechery of "Girls," and a few too many rhymes about his past year in the spotlight are simple-minded and needlessly defensive. However, the negative aspects are few and fleeting, typically swallowed whole by the streams of surrounding positives. For instance, the pungent "Girls" is trailed by the poignant "Imagine," in which Dizzee reflects in heart-stopping form amid string swoops, synth flutters, and rhythm splutters. And during those short moments spent in lame-brain braggart mode, you can still get lost in the pure sound of his voice -- an attraction as serious as his production prowess. As a beatmaker, Dizzee now ranks near the top, entire planet considered, whether he's dishing out a crowd-hyping batter-bounce or crafting something more intricate, where synthetic approximations of exotic instrumentation -- Oriental melodies, African percussion -- are pitted against ballast-blasting beats. Needless to say, the novelty status once accorded to this maverick by shortsighted cynics has now been obliterated by a shower of genius juice. ~ Andy Kellman, All Music Guide
