Boy In Da Corner
Dizzee Rascal
2003
Album Summary
Boy in da Corner is the debut studio album by English rapper and producer Dizzee Rascal. It was first released on 21 July 2003 by XL Recordings in the United Kingdom before being released the following year in the United States. A widespread critical success, Boy in da Corner became one of the most acclaimed records of 2003 and went on to win the Mercury Prize for best album from the UK and Ireland. It also peaked at number 23 on the British albums chart and sold over 250,000 copies worldwide by 2004. With the album's success, Dizzee Rascal gave mainstream exposure to grime music while becoming the UK's first internationally recognised rap star.
WikipediaReally stupid shit. It's hard to believe that people want to listen to this and harder to believe that someone paid for it to be made
An East London rapper named Dizzee Rascal sounds exactly how you might imagine. Once you get past the novelty of the accent (TIL that a Cockney accent with Jamaican and West African influences is called Jafaican) and the slang (not the "road toad frog" kind, the "call your friends 'blood'" kind), it's actually really fun and really clever. Gangsta rap is an American export, no doubt, but Rascal has fully absorbed it and turned it into an expression of life in East London. Super fascinating stuff. Best track: Hold Ya Mouf
Boy in da Corner is the debut studio album by English rapper and producer Dizzee Rascal. It was first released on 21 July 2003 by XL Recordings in the United Kingdom before being released the following year in the United States. Per Wikipedia (as above), this album falls under the "grime" genre of electric music. My interest is piqued... Tracklist: Sittin’ Here Stop Dat I Luv U Brand New Day 2 Far Fix Up, Look Sharp Cut ’Em Off Hold Ya Mouf Round We Go Jus’ A Rascal Wot U On Jezebel Seems 2 Be Live O Do It! Vexed "Sittin' Here" introduces Dizzee Rascal with cool beats and bass tunes. This is a solid hip hop track with clever lyrics ("same old story" "it was only yesterday). It's relatable, and it sounds very cool. "Stop Dat" is another grime track with deep bass synth chords (I'm probably butchering this terminology, bit it sounds bassy!). I dig this song, and it's giving me major Blackout vibes ("Freakshow" comes to mind). Track 3, "I Luv U," opens with a woman saying the titular line over and over as if her voice is solely activated by the push of a key. This song features a battle between two loves (with his and her vocals!) and it's very fun, and the grimey instrumentation is very addictive. "Brand New Day" features jingle-bell keys and a grimey beat. Dizz sings about his life, losing his friends, making plans for the future. It's personal. It's good. "2 Far" features Wiley and opens with funny Alvin and the Chipmunks distorted vocals that lead to a consistent "uh uh" and violins while Dizzee sings about how someone pushed him... too far. The next track, "Fix Up, Look Sharp" opens with a fun drum beat that samples "The Big Beat by Billy Squier. It's fun and semi sarcastic. "Cut 'Em Off" features more bass and a steady beat. It's dark and his vocals are echoey and it's a little spooky! "Hold Ya Mouf" features God's Gift and a synth that reminds me of Saria's Song from Ocarina of Time. Dizz sings about karma and bettering yourself. It's catchy! "Round We Go" has more "hey hey" backing vocal/sounds and more fun synthy tunes. This track sounds like a breakup song and it's pretty great! "Jus' a Rascal" opens with people chanting "he's just a rascal" that leads to Dizzee and electric guitars mixed over a cool ambient electric tune. This track sounds like Dizzee's introduction song. "Wot U On?" has bassy beats and a robo/harmonizing lady vocals in the background. I sense another breakup song! "You're looking at your jewelry thinking you're a dapper" Ahhh, a gold digger song. This song is VERY fun. "Jezebel" opens with plucking strings and some hip hop beats. This track is dark and the titular Jeze is in some deep shit. "Seems 2 Be" is more grimey synth track that opens with an iconic monologue from a woman that features this poetry: "To be honest I’m totally and completely on his dick" This track is quite outrageous and I'm all for it. He does compare Britney and Christina to Teletubbies at one point, which I simply love. "Live O" opens with claps and an automated operator ordering you to "leave a message." Dizzee mentions Perrier in this song, and I really appreciate it. The final track on the original pressing, "Do It!" opens with Dizzee reflecting on his life and planning for his future. This track features more of the same grimey instrumentation that I've come to appreciate on this album, and it's very good! Favorite track: Wot U On? Honorable mention: I Luv U
This album sounded like it came from another planet in 2003 despite actually coming from a 15 year old kid mucking about in his school music rooms in Bow. 18 years later those beats still sound like nothing else that has come before or since.
Great flow and delivery, cool beats and sampling. Feels very ahead of its time.
Absolute and utter dross. Honestly, why this sort of abject shite gets hyped up by swathes of actual grown adults is beyond me. Yobbish, dumb and painfully monotonous.
It says a lot about how good this album is that it managed to break into my indie centric world back when it was released. It got more play than a lot of the music that is now known as landfill indie, which is a disingenuous name as every genre has forgettable music that doesn't stand the test of time. Anyway, yeah this album stands the test of time. It's just mental.
I used to adore this album when Fix Up Look Sharp dropped. This digs at my deepest desire to explore the world of UK Hip Hop and Grime. Dizzee hits on all the right themes of despair, anger, and cynicism yet the message comes out in the end as something positive. The beats are complex and experimental touching on sonics that most artists wish they could achieve. In a time when 50 Cent, Eminem, Jay-Z, DMX, etc ruled the hip hop scene this was something complete different to the mainstream and it still holds up today.
Grime Origins, and boy does it slap. Between flow and beats present, I'm not sure which hits harder, but both hit hard enough to punch a new genre into the mainstream.
Glad to finally get this one off my personal to-listen list after so many years, and MAN IT WAS FIRE. This is grimey as hell, and I loved it.
This was a pleasant surprise. Has that exotic factor due to English/afro Carribbean accent, the electronic beats are versatile and catchy, the lyrics are fun and weird
While I'm not normally a fan of this genre of electronic hip hop (grime, I guess it's called?), I was surprised at how much I enjoyed this album overall. There's a terrific energy and drive to most of the songs, and Dizzee's rap prowess is impressive.
I found the tracks to be very interesting, however rap isn't my favorite. I really enjoyed it though.
Braggadocious, at times dated in it's slang, but overall an enjoyable delve into the early evolutions of London's grime scene
Tempted to just give this 5 stars and move on. One of the albums that got me into hip-hop, and it doesn't sound like anything before or since. Dizzee Rascal gets annoyed with people saying Wiley is the godfather of grime music, because he was producing/co-producing this music first. Whatever the case, the production on some of these tracks is really unique and instantly recognisable. His vocal style is completely idosyncratic too. And it's worth remembering that Dizzee was 17/18 years old when this was recorded, I believe? Some of the lyrics are stupid sex & violence style rap - but others are strikingly insightful and honest. The feature by God's Gift is mediocre, and there are one or two weaker tracks musically. SO on reflection, 4*.
Considered entry level by some grime fans, Boy in da Corner is one of the most consistently good albums in a genre more focused on singles. This is easily one of the most consistently good UK hip-hop albums in general. It's a shame none of Dizzee Rascal's subsequent albums were able to live up to it, but it set the bar pretty high.
When this came out I was struck by how off the wall it was. Such good grooves and clever nasty lyrics. I remember dance floors getting filled when tracks from Boy In Da Corner got dropped. Listening to it again after many years I was surprised by a possible Sparks influence on track. Dizzee Rascal made an intelligent album that never took itself too seriously while still being important
This album goes HARD. Most of the tracks on here just slap and are a great time and luckily there are some switch-ups so it's not too overwhelming. Really good bars, from what I could understand of them as well. 8/10
Remember reciting all of Fix Up, Look Sharp on the school field at lunch time? Me too.
I remember greatly enjoying this album when it first came out, so when I saw it in my backlog I jumped straight to it. What I got was an album of two halves - the first half (more of a third, really) showed why grime music in general and this album in particular was so great, songs about hopelessness and boredom rapped over discordant beats in a style that still stands out. The remainder was much more the kind of bravado I can never take seriously when it's delivered with anything other than an American accent. Fix Up, Look Sharp, Jus' a Rascal and I Luv U were stand out tracks, but ultimately this album was just a little bit too lacking for me to give it a rating of an album I'd be keen to buy.
Very energetic. Never really listened to British rap before, but I believe this is the seminal Grime album. Impressive flow and witty lyricism. I'd go back and listen to this.
Grime is a uniquely British genre intersecting hip hop and EDM, utilizing syncopated breakbeat samples to create an aggressive, energetic beat for rapping over. Boy In Da Corner is one of the foundational albums of the grime genre, winning the 2003 Mercury Music Prize and thus earning the new sound some legitimacy. Stylistically, this raw production style and MCing reminds me of the east-coast Definitive Jux production on the other side of the pond, though Dizzee Rascal is certainly a lot less abstract in his lyrics. I'll be honest, I have a certain bias against UK hip hop. I find the accent to be more irritating than anything, which leaves a lot to be desires when that's the majority of the album. I like the production otherwise though, it's unique enough to stand out.
Despite being an unabashed fan of hip-hop, I'm never gonna be a grime head, I guess. I keep giving it a try and I just can't get into it. That said, somewhere around track 5, I started to actually understand what Dizzee, and by extension the genre, is trying to do/be. Dizzee may be rapping but this isn't hip-hop and that's a game-changing realization. It's more akin to dance genres like garage or jungle. When approached with that understanding, grime makes so much more sense. I was able to move through the rest of the album and... kind of enjoy it. I'm still not into grime, mind you. But I went from actively disliking it to respecting and appreciating it. That's worth a few stars for the boy in da corner.
Unimpressed. Not bad production quality but repetitive and annoying. Some songs In the middle were a bit better but not great
I don’t like rap. Is the guy decently talented? Yeh. I don’t have other British rap to compare against and I won’t seek it out.
If Dizzee Rascal's intent was to make an album that would make the listener want to blow his or her brains out, then I say well done sir! I tried, but I hated it. I did make it all the way through, but just barely. 1 star.
Not my taste of music or genre. Found the vocal delivery and most of the music abrasive
Just so, so, so not my thing. I gave it a try but couldn't get through it.
More rap? I hate rap, it hardly qualifies as music. This shouldn't be on any musical 'best of' list.
La prima volta che ho sentito questo disco anni fa quando vivevo a Londra mi è esplosa la testa e sentirlo anche oggi mi fa lo stesso effetto. Dizzie ha uno stile unico e ha influenzato me e tantissima musica che mi piace, gran disco. Non ho altro da dire.
I love this album and always have and for me all but one track are really strong 2 far is a track I dont remember with any fondness and i dont think it has improved but that is one track of an album of great tracks with some real stand out classics of the genre
Need to revisit, but interesting mix of rap with some English downtempo elements.
Un rap rafraichissant tres tres bon qui m’a secoue par rapport a ce que je connaissais. 5
Really impressive diversity of beats. Unique to anything else I've heard. Fun, clever, slice of life lyrics. Good stuff!
Liked this quite a bit! Very aggressive, old school UK rap. "I Luv U" was great. Will put this into the rotation.
Yes! Yes! Yes! Minus one star for the line “Lyrical clientele but I ain't a bocat, I don't like the smell”
Did not expect the heavy dub. I don't mind the strong reggaeton vibes, but would actually love to hear an instrumental version of this album as a personal preference. Where my Skream heads at??
so, it turns out i like grime a lot more than i thought i would. pretty nice.
Rap. Straight down danzable and catchy. Good enought, not perfect, repetivive on times.
Un album de très très grande qualité que j'ai beaucoup apprécié. On notera cependant la présence excessive de morceaux intitulés "Dizzee Rascal Type Beat".
Jebote šta je ovaj album zanimljiv. Znam za ovaj album, za njega, al nikad nisam poslušao baš u cijelosti album i mog reći da me je zateklo. Stvarno odlično kreiranih pjesama, bass udara ko blesav, agresivan album. U nekima ima manjka melodičnosti, ali opet to nekako daje taj štih na pjesmu. Pa tako i cijeli album.
So talented! Every song sounds like a blueprint for Bonkers, but without its overexposure and catchiness.
Wagman ma roadman tis album was peng blud don't Eva trust a wasteman innit 4/5
Ooooooi Some massive tracks on here. He’s got his own style and is doing his thing but I was never too into grime. Fix up still sounds huge and I’ll always turn that up as loud as I can go.
Opening the book on the UK Grime scene with humour social commentary and a cast of diverse characters. Accessible and interesting to non-fans of the genre, especially hearing Grime emerge from DnB.
Classic grime album. I haven't listened to this in a hot minute but it's so nostalgic for me.
I only knew Dizzee from that one Basement Jaxx song, so this was a real treat!
Rating: 8/10 Best songs: Sittin here, I luv u, Fix up look sharp, Jus a rascal
I'm usually not much into music like this, but I can vibe with this album very well. Especially the vocals are done skillfully and have me bopping my head a lot.
Oy, it's the boy in da corner, innit? Been waiting for a reason to check out Dizzee Rascal, glad to see this pop up on here. Some really fantastic tracks on here. I'm pretty sure this was one of the first big breakout albums from the grime scene, and it's crazy to hear how much this style still influences acts today, like Skepta. I hear a throughline from this to Konnichiwa for sure. Obsessed with the Billy Squier flip on "Fix Up Look Sharp," took me right back to that XXL freshman cypher with Kendrick and Lil B. Give me more grime! Favorite tracks: Fix Up Look Sharp, I Luv U, Stop Dat, Hold Ya Mouf. Album art: He really is a boy in da corner. Font, colors, even his pose is cool. Really like this one. 4/5
Dizzee’s underground grime album made it to the overground and inspired plenty of think pieces in left leaning newspapers marvelling at his wordplay, real outlook on urban life and raw stripped back electro beats. I can’t really blame them - it’s a powerful Debut, he was just a kid and who had heard music like this before if you weren’t on the scene?
hes just a rascal. dizzee rascal. love this album. have since i heard. was a fresh take on electro rap warble bass stuff. hes kind of a macho idiot, but many a man is. i like his high pitched affectations and that he raps so fast on one song i cant understand his accent. i think its a great album. its fucking great. bass boom bap shake shatter rattle. that one song thats just drums. that one where it sounds like squealing female voice sirens creaking. i like iiiiiitttt a lot.
Incredible energy. Modern sounding vocals. Great production, feels dated now but it was 20years ago!
It's a very good album and has a sound that is unique even after being imitated since its release. 4/5
This one’s wild because it sounds like it could perfectly fit into that weirdo rap category like jpegmagia and be mistaken as something that just came out but this mfs 20 years old. Just awesome
Quite a long album, with normally is annoying, but despite the number of hip-hop albums on this list, "Boy In Da Corner" comes with fresh air (almost 20 years ago) and makes the time goes fast into a good listening session. Not the best hip-hop album of all time (maybe far from it), but it is one of the best on this list for sure. It deserves four stars for the nice job.
I've been known to be a bit of a dizzee rascal myself after a drink or 7, so I def vibe with the kid. I'M YOUR FITNESS INSTRACTAH...
Intense - but the production awesome - even though it's skewed heavily on the rhythm and rather spare on the melody. Quite a few tracks are bangers here, and while it's not an album for all seasons because of it's intensity, it's a great one when the time and mood is right.
I'm surprised to be enjoying this album. It's just fun to listen to. Strongest in the first several tracks but entertaining throughout. I'm surprised to see how divisive it is in the ratings. 3.5 rounding up for the places where it made me laugh.
I love British rap. Lyrics were tight and the rhythm to each song was so catchy. Will return to this artist!
I thought grime was a more recent genre, so it's interesting to listen to an early influential grime album. I really like the interesting rhythms, and his vocals complement it well