Dizzee Rascal
Maths + English
Release Date: Jun 5, 2007
Genre(s): Electronic, Rap
Record label: XL
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Album Review: Maths + English by Dizzee Rascal
Excellent, Based on 3 Critics
Based on rating 4/5
Four years ago, Dizzee Rascal seemed to have the country at his feet. His 2003 debut album, Boy in da Corner, was a landmark British pop album: an uncompromising statement of arrival from a truly distinctive voice, which, nearly half a decade on, still sounds like nothing else. It won the Mercury music prize, and all of a sudden the kid from the London council estate was on coffee tables across the country, with a host of MCs and producers threatening to follow in his wake.
Opinion: Fantastic
Not one to slack, Dizzee Rascal, the Brit prince of bravado, has fused his grime-rap style with old-school hip-hop. The result is an eclectic, break-dance-worthy Slick Rick reincarnation, softened by cameos from mainstream sensations like Lily Allen (”Wanna Be”). That’s not to say there’s a lack of vim or vigor. In one of Maths & English‘s standouts, ”Sirens,” Rascal channels Jay-Z; in another, ”P—y’ole,” he’s a compelling beatboxer.
Opinion: Great
East London's Dizzee Rascal rushes the "World Outside" with third LP Maths + English, cold grime bodied up by the genre's pioneer. "Young, black, rich, and ruthless," boasts Dizzee on psychotic diss track "Pussy'ole" to a cut up of Rob Base's "It Takes Two to Make a Thing Go Right," while reeling in UGK's Pimp and Bun for cross-genre anthem "Where's Da G's." Beatmaker Shy FX reaches dizzying speeds on summertime jam "Da Feelin'," Maths adding up to an all out "Flex" of muscle and clout. One of music's most inspirational stories via a 2008 documentary bearing the same name, Warchild, aka Sudan's Emmanuel Jal, beats up on "50 Cent" and paints a vivid picture of a war-jacked childhood.