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Live Review
by SashaS
5-11-2004
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| Dizzee Rascal: first proper tour triumph |
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Live: Dizzee Rascal
Forum, London
Thursday, November 4, 2004
Dizzee Rascal: first tour is a triumph
Dizzee Rascal, on his first proper tour of the UK, keeps it simple and yet it is complex. The backdrop is simply the ‘Showtime’ cover replica, there is a decknitian and a co-MC, under the rather spectacular lightshow but, it is the rhymes, the beats and the vibe this man so ably and casually drops.
Diz, a.k.a. Dylan Mills, appears so natural onstage, ready to take on any competition and eager to dish out his cuts like projectiles of hope. His witty, urbane lyrics were backed by heavy, menacing tones that reminded us you can combine Eminem with true spirit of Hip-hop, mesh it with some homegrown magic and get a brew no-one else is fermenting.
The slight puzzlement is that this is mainly hip, youngish and white audience - a crossover is always well appreciated - but his ‘hood appears not to like travelling up the Northern Line. Pity, because this man is as good, and often better, than many American imports, be it Cube, Busta or Ja.
For the difference from the Yank-crews, there is no gratuitous vulgarity, nor obsessive crotch-grabbing or any of the rap’s ‘offensive’ [that is more like passé] clichés and no bloody choreographed dance moves. How can any decent Hip-hop act ever think they can do the collective moves any better… than your average boy-band?
Still, the Mercury Prize Winner of a year ago, for his debut ‘Boy In da Corner’, hasn‘t had an easy ride since; despite the award, and earning a platinum disc for sales of over 300,000 in the UK, Dizzee is not yet one of the ‘big boys’, despite being recognized by Jay-Z and Justin Timberlake, who he toured with.
Diz‘s is an anti-bling and ghetto music; Rascal’s world is that of decaying tower blocks in dilapidated urban boroughs, dreaming of media, and film especially, induced imagery what youth-hood, the Afro-American style, of the XXI century is all about. It is raw, rough, drugged up, violent and he serves up snippets of it with a playground authenticity, be it on ‘Jezebel’, the schoolgirl hussy rhyme, or the limbs-capturing ‘Respect Me’.
Or, a melancholic ode to childhood, ‘Sittin’ Here’… Diz is so cool that he’s one of the rare artists who can pull a cover of Captain Sensible’s early 1980s hit ‘Happy Talk’ and turn it into a credible single ‘Dream’ whereas, in effect, taking a Rogers & Hammerstein‘s ditty from an operetta should have fallen flat on its face, alike Big Bruvas. Rascal, he got style, cat.
The encore is his first hit, ‘Fix Up, Look Sharp’, which might be the mantra of the people who can’t/won’t join the iGen. But, Diz is heading in the right direction of the big league. He recently shared [with Jamelia, and who wouldn’t?] the UK Act of the Year gong at the MOBO Awards, but more significantly, was nominated for best International Act at New York’s Source Magazine Awards and is in the running for the Shortlist Music Prize [the US version of Mercury MA].
Dizzee Rascal was in the house, big time; the undisputed force of Brit urban music 2004.
SashaS
5-11-2004
Dizzee Rascal’s single ‘Dreams’ is released 08 November 2004 by XL Recordings
Dizzee Rascal’s album ‘Showtime’ is available now on XL Recordings
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