Artist: Dizzee Rascal
Album: Tongue N' Cheek
Year: 2009
Grade: 3 pretzels
It doesn’t seem that long ago that Dizzee Rascal turned modern rap on its head with his 2003 debut, Boy In Da Corner. Recorded while Dizzee was still in his teens, Boy In Da Corner still stands as a tremendously unique and surprising approach to rap. Dizzee’s thick London accent and ferociously fast flow were in stark contrast to the mainstream rap listeners on both sides of the Atlantic were used to. Since then, Dizzee has become a focal point for the UK grime genre and has released a series of albums building upon the crucial groundwork Boy put in place. He’s also steadily found more and more success, collaborating with all kinds of high-profile artists (Lily Allen, Arctic Monkeys) and creeping up the charts. Therefore, the shamelessly poppy Tongue N’ Cheek shouldn’t come as a surprise.
That doesn’t mean it isn’t a bit of a disappointment to older Dizzee Rascal fans, who yearn for a return to the stark, gritty sound that Dizzee started his career with. Instead of the intense, fast-paced psychological terrors of “Sittin’ Here”, we get…uhh…”Dance Wiv Me”, a lightweight club track, featuring some run-of-the-mill lyrics full of innuendos and posturing. Sure, there’s something irresistibly toe-tapping about the beat and hook, but…it all feels pretty shallow. Hear that sound? It’s the sound of thousands of hipsters crying as yet another rapper eschews “serious” subject matter.
I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t one of them. I dearly want Dizzee to record another Boy In Da Corner and steer far away from ridiculous electro-nonsense like “Holiday”. I like my rap serious and introspective and intense. However, I acknowledge that there’s a whole other half to the equation. I can’t blame Dizzee for recording music that makes people want to dance and party. He’s clearly capitalizing on his status as a rising star and he now has the evidence to prove it: “Dance Wiv Me”, “Holiday” and the absurdly house-influenced “Bonkers” have all claimed the top spot on the UK singles charts over the past year. Clearly, people like this new direction Dizzee is taking.
As the font on the album cover proves, Tongue N’ Cheek tracks Dizzee Rascal’s evolution from angry young man to cartoonish pop star. From the club-ready singles to silly album songs like “Road Rage”, the rough edges to Dizzee’s music are getting rapidly smoothed over. Yet, his successes just keep piling up. It’ll be interesting to see if Dizzee decides to drag his music back into darker pastures in the future. However, I have a suspicion that the seductive power of chart-topping singles will hold sway over him for a while. We can only watch and see.
That doesn’t mean it isn’t a bit of a disappointment to older Dizzee Rascal fans, who yearn for a return to the stark, gritty sound that Dizzee started his career with. Instead of the intense, fast-paced psychological terrors of “Sittin’ Here”, we get…uhh…”Dance Wiv Me”, a lightweight club track, featuring some run-of-the-mill lyrics full of innuendos and posturing. Sure, there’s something irresistibly toe-tapping about the beat and hook, but…it all feels pretty shallow. Hear that sound? It’s the sound of thousands of hipsters crying as yet another rapper eschews “serious” subject matter.
I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t one of them. I dearly want Dizzee to record another Boy In Da Corner and steer far away from ridiculous electro-nonsense like “Holiday”. I like my rap serious and introspective and intense. However, I acknowledge that there’s a whole other half to the equation. I can’t blame Dizzee for recording music that makes people want to dance and party. He’s clearly capitalizing on his status as a rising star and he now has the evidence to prove it: “Dance Wiv Me”, “Holiday” and the absurdly house-influenced “Bonkers” have all claimed the top spot on the UK singles charts over the past year. Clearly, people like this new direction Dizzee is taking.
As the font on the album cover proves, Tongue N’ Cheek tracks Dizzee Rascal’s evolution from angry young man to cartoonish pop star. From the club-ready singles to silly album songs like “Road Rage”, the rough edges to Dizzee’s music are getting rapidly smoothed over. Yet, his successes just keep piling up. It’ll be interesting to see if Dizzee decides to drag his music back into darker pastures in the future. However, I have a suspicion that the seductive power of chart-topping singles will hold sway over him for a while. We can only watch and see.
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