Dizzee Rascal: Boy In Da Corner

looking forward to hearing dizzee.

jay z, eh? well there's a talented fellow.

but, hell, i'd love it if he did... didn't bushwick bill wear a bowler now and again?

this is the first line ever on ILX to genuinely make me laugh out loud.

i've listened to it about 40 times since i got hold of a copy last week. it gets better with every listen.

a good thing about this album is it will establish him as an amazing producer.

everyone knows I Luv U but it was made about two years ago. people slate it because it sounds raw [ except that's why i like it...] but the LP will surprise people, musically.

and there's such insane lyrics & slang on it. anyone know what 'dis one strictly for pitneys' is about?

i'm not sure. it will and it won't. the metal-on-metal bass sounds and D's voice on i luv you are the general constants. i think what will surprise people though is the depth of the production and breadth of the lyrics. and i don't mean that in an asian dub foundation we-must-now-write a bad song about ASYLUM "issues" way. i mean in the sense that there's far more going on in his head than the single and the stuff on p2p suggest. he's not a thug rapper. he is a thug rapper. he goes on about beating and robbing people BUT the tracks that bookend it are so fucking sad, complete conor oberst emo-boy pathos but without the bad hair and lame guitars (phew). like the bit where he goes on about wanting to go to sleep and never wake up again b/c he's so miserable with his life - after almost an hour of going on about how great he is. i'm simplifying, and it's a bit protest too much, but it's so refreshing to get that vulnerability from a rapper who also sounds so fresh and makes such awesome noises. the only upsetting thing about it is that the track i downloaded that had the "i ain't gonna lie / i ain't got a six pack / i got a bad temper and a baseball bat" line on it didn't get an update.

and he was born in 1985. even as someone born in the 80s, this makes me sick.

yes. that was my point.

and i also agree, he is a mass of contradictions. a reaction between his environment and his inner self. not that that's exclusive to dizzee obviously, but he's such a mess of tensions it's so entralling.

i love it when he parodies people parodying him. "that dizzee rascal's so rude..." he goes, in some soft cockney accent, not the usual harsh tone he uses.

the highlights definitely include the sad stuff. jezebel, sitting here and brand new day. heartwrenching.

i think we should shut up now martin. it must be like dangling chocolate from people's mouths and then pulling it away. i'm interviewing him on monday, though. can't fucking wait.

oh, and if anyone wants a copy....

no, no. sorry. no.

Yes, but so is saying, "oh since it is hip hop it can't have its own properties", and goodness knows we've had a lot of posters pop onto grime threads and say roughly the same thing (or, rather, "what's all the fuss about, it's just hip hop. Stop talking about it as if there was anything special or unique going on here." Would you agree that saying the same thing re crunk would seem like a rather limited, overly generalist dismissal of anything distinct crunk had to offer to the ongoing "conversation" of hip hop?

Of course. X is Y but Y is not necessarily X.

I'm not going to comment on the dancehall vs hip-hop thing because A) I have already made my point about genre-ghettofication and bringing another genre into it doesn't change it; and B) I would be talking out of my ass.

just found out dizzee is doing a gig with tony allen from fela kuti's band in march!

xxpost I think there's still a huge dancehall influence in a lot of the rapping, and the radio sets especially sound a lot like dancehall in the way they're structured, leading to a very similar overall feel.

this sounds absolutely repugnant by the way, even as a strawman argument. i have never read or heard anyone say anything like that. grime is made primarily by black males. any one who thinks otherwise is a fool.

arent the radio shows more like jungle or UKG shows though? (im aware of the sound system culture thats trickled down but even so...) where can i hear dancehall sets like pirate radio exactly? and what dancehall artists/records should i hear to see the influence in the rapping? suggestions would be much appreciated. thanks.

xpost - Dan, maybe if you explained it a bit more?

I still like Showtime more. And am very interested in whatever number three will sound like.

this has aged really well

I haven't heard it in its entirety in a long time but whenever I hear anything from it I'm like yeah this is the shit

http://soundcloud.com/uncledugs/dugsshotzdizzeewileytinchysyer

listened to this the other week and was just utterly blown away by him all over again.... most of the bars ended up on bidc but hearing them in this context, among his peers (even wiley, also on top form) really hits home what an astonishing, preternatural, fearlessly bright talent he truly was

yeah this is one of the best album of the 00's. i blast it quite a bit. pity now everyone (inc. him prob) sees it as some sort of babystep to a chart bursting monster he is today.

how sad is "brand new day" ffs?

the majority of it is p heartbreaking tbh, that one and "stop dat" and "i luv u" esp

Hadn't listened to this in forever. Still sounds great, so electric and confident.

two thousand and slew was a long time ago

It's funny -- or maybe just predictable -- that this still sounds more futuristic than anything he did after.

i secretly hope that the skepta album might rejuvenate him.

he had moments on each album (or b sides) after though that were as good or 'futuristic' as what was on BIDC

The Skepta album isn't even in the same galaxy as this.

yep, this still sounds mighty

its not the same kind of album. but its a great grime album, regardless. but i think dizzee prob feels that hes done it all already so theres no need for him to go back to grime. shame though, id love to hear him over some of the more outre beats around (and yes i know the skepta album def is NOT remotely outre).

I love his first three albums.

same, i lost track after that.

ditto. I haven't even heard "the fifth" although this track from it is pretty nifty. is the album worth checking out?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AlzgDVLtU6g

Put it on 15 minutes. Yep, I think this album still has it.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QMzx-OzYICs

Dizzee's verse on this from 2014 is good

saw skepta on his recent 'pop-up' UK tour & when the DJ on beforehand played tht^, the crowd went nuts. (also went mental for desiigner's panda).

skepta record isn't even as good as JME's from last year.

its not like he just fell off after BIDC, then suddenly popped up on daytime radio 1 with bonkers.

showtime -
stand up tall
graftin
respect me
knock knock
dream
girls
flyin
fickle
give u more
trapped
is this real?
off to work

maths + english
world outside (not that this makes it superior, but the intro to this sounds like james ferraro or OPN)
pussyole
flex
wanna be (though this really depends on how much you can tolerate lilly allen, i dont mind her, but she does push insufferability on this one)
u cant tell me nuffin
my life feat newham generals

im stopping at tongue in cheek as this is such a shift that you might as well include the whole thing. i never listened to the 5th properly, but i liked the stupidity of bassline junkie.

pagans/couple of stacks from 2014 arent bad. the song with giggs was good too. but his taste in beats is pretty uninteresting.

'Bubbles' still bangs.

i laughed when i saw this was getting the full-on heritage album treatment in brooklyn of all places. still can't imagine a less exciting live experience than An Entire Album Played In Order

and especially not THIS album of all albums! my goodness.

dont get why RBMA put that BIDC show on in brooklyn either. surely it should have been in the assembly hall of his old secondary school?

given the kind of gig it was it was entirely appropriate that he was far from its origins imo. brooklyn can have it

im fine with him doing one of those classic album shows (would only want to see it out of curiosity). its not really about making BIDC into some dull revered canon album, more allowing it to get the same dull revered canon treatment as other albums from other genres.

its not like he just fell off after BIDC, then suddenly popped up on daytime radio 1 with bonkers.

Oh yeah, I don't slight Showtime or M+E. Great songs on both. It's just BIDC arrived so fully formed, perfect union of sonics and voice.

Interview with Dizzee's teacher:

http://daily.redbullmusicacademy.com/2016/05/dizzee-rascal-music-teacher-interview

http://www.thefader.com/2016/06/15/dizzee-rascal-calvin-harris-hype