Boy In Da Corner

Move over Mike Skinner. If The Streets is the sound of a slightly edgy middle-class suburban existence, then Dizzee Rascal is about to fill you in on what life is actually like on London’s mean streets – it’s bleak, it’s funny, it’s ugly … and it sounds like nothing you’ve heard before. Musically, it’s akin to taking a high-speed walk around the dodgy fringes of Notting Hill Carnival – gritty hip-hop and digital ragga get roughed up beside aggressive d’n’b basslines, psycho garage and Playstation FX. Lyrically, Rascal’s violent, wry, cynical and honest street twang – pitched between hip-hop, garage and pirate radio MC-ing – speaks of the view from the tower block… drug deals, street scuffles, teenage pregnancies, alienation from safe (white) society and a life that’s out of his reach. It’s astounding – and even more so given the fact it’s mostly self-produced… and he’s only 18. You may find it a difficult listen initially, but take heed – an album like this doesn’t come along all that often.