Dizzee Rascal has always had hits, that goes without saying. From pure grime I Luv U through Stand Up Tall to guitar based Sirens, he has shown he can rock over any beat and produce catchy anthems. The problem he’s had is that his albums tend to have a fair amount of filler, so whilst his Best Of would be brilliant, it’s hard to listen to an entire album without skipping tracks.
On his new record, Tongue N Cheek, the East London rapper has countered that with a fully listenable which covers the gamut from pop to dance and even managing to break out an 80’s sounding track without coming off like a trend follower. Indeed, whilst the lyrics are pretty standard fare – I’m awesome, I can get girls, I’m rich – it’s Dizzee’s off-kilter delivery and unbeatable voice that makes that seem unimportant.
It’s not just the sing-along potential of Bonkers and Dance Wiv Me that makes this album fun, its tracks such as Dirrtee Cash, Money Money and the fantastic Can’t Tek No More which switch it up and show Dizzee to be the versatile rapper he is.
Whilst the likes of Bizzle and Kano have fallen by the wayside, Dizzee goes from strength to strength and this is arguably the pinnacle of his career so far. He’s going to be here for a long time yet and as long as he’s banging out records like this, it’s going to be fun having him around.
Abjekt.