Album: Dizzee Rascal - E3 AF | reviews, news & interviews
Album: Dizzee Rascal - E3 AF
Album: Dizzee Rascal - E3 AF
Man back in the corner
You can’t ever go all the way home again, and for years Dizzee Rascal didn’t want to.
Dizzee had moved on by second album Showtime (2005), then gloriously gate-crashed the pop mainstream with “Bonkers”, staying true to London language even as his delight at his success beamed from global stages, and he repaired to Home Counties and Miami homes. Since Raskit (2017), though, the former Dylan Mills has tried to reclaim lost ground. If a recent walking tour of Bow had something of Charlie Chaplin’s curious inspection of Kennington on a flying visit from Hollywood, this seventh album reinforces Dizzee’s effort to reconnect with his roots, and secure respect in the now booming grime scene he helped create. “I’m a fucking serious rapper,” this brilliant pop star recently told NME, clearly fearing the issue was in doubt.
The Dizzee who used to shimmy up pirate radio masts in his fever to make music has returned to making his own beats lately, but adds era-spanning MC talent here. The dreamy synth churn of “Act Like You Know” is sharpened by Smoke Boys’ drill modernity, while Dizzee slips through rap gears like Lewis Hamilton ghosting round a chicane (“Are you slow? If so...”). The standout “Eastside” starts with Ghetts’ venomous clamour, launching Dizzee into wired orbit, where he’s joined by a fully-revved Kano. All three old-timers insist seniority is a virtue, though only Dizzee undercuts his boasts with absurd local detail, claiming he’s “been steady since...there were only five channels on the telly”.
Dizzee is at once this knowing, and fully immersed in battle rap swagger and his subtly diverse sounds’ swirling, sculpted energy. If his need to restate authenticity is depressing, having escaped expectations so fully, it’s another honest artistic turn. And what if he falls short? “I’m in my prime,” he declares on the closing “Be Incredible”, with its creamy, crooning, paradisal ambience, and vignettes of ongoing struggle. “If I decline, I’ll want privacy/I’ll be fine.” This exploratory journey back won’t lose the wider, safer world he’s earned.
Subscribe to theartsdesk.com
Thank you for continuing to read our work on theartsdesk.com. For unlimited access to every article in its entirety, including our archive of more than 15,000 pieces, we're asking for £5 per month or £40 per year. We feel it's a very good deal, and hope you do too.
To take a subscription now simply click here.
And if you're looking for that extra gift for a friend or family member, why not treat them to a theartsdesk.com gift subscription?
Add comment