Dizzee Rascal

Boy in Da Corner (XL/Matador)

A A A Comments By Michael Roberts Thursday, Feb 26 2004

Britisher Dylan Mills's pseudonym doesn't exactly carry its weight in stateside street cred. Truth be told, the name Dizzee Rascal suggests Carl "Alfalfa" Switzer with a bad case of vertigo. But dismiss his debut platter at your peril, because Boy in Da Corner is a hip-hop hybrid that's a helluva lot fresher than most domestic boombox bait. It's moody, aggressive and, on occasion, borderline incomprehensible -- but in a good way.

More About

For listeners who think they understand the intricacies of U.K. garage because they dug Craig David's first platter, Corner is likely to come as either a revelation or a shock. "Sittin' Here," the CD's opener, sets the table with an eerie electro backdrop replete with a nagging keyboard pattern and faux rim shots that sound like slaps to the face -- and if tracks such as "Fix Up, Look Sharp," with its metallic riffing, vocal wooohs! and soulful exhortations, are more accessible, they're just as spare. Rascal's delivery, meanwhile, is an amped-up, memorably fervent variation on rude-boy toasting that features loads o' Brit slang: "wagwan" (shorthand for "What's going on?"), "beanies" (hot chicks) and more, more, more.

At times, decoding Rascal's rhymes can be a challenge, but for every reference to "blicks" and "gamma" (look them up yourself), there are boastful lines such as "I'm gonna search for big money stacks/Top tens and platinum whacks" (from "Jus a Rascal") that demonstrate a kinship with the bling thing currently dominating American airwaves. Granted, Corner is more mysterious than, say, the collected works of Chingy. Nonetheless, it should still appeal to urban junglists with a taste for adventure and no fear of heights. Get Dizzee.

Check out this week's featured ad for Music