Reviews (page 6 of 8)
This was my third rap album in a row, and none of them were Jurassic 5.
Ég fékk tilfinninguna að þetta væri misheppnuð tilraun til þess að verða Die Antwoord af því að framburðurinn var svolítið sérstakur en auðvitað koma Dizzee Rascal á undan þeim. Mér fannst hann bara leiðinlegri en þau þannig að hann fær ekki frekari hlustun.
British hip hop is always weird to me
I was exposed to grime a while back when I first started this challenge. Suffice to say that I did NOT enjoy what I listened to (it was Skepta). After listening to this specific record, I don't think my opinion has changed too much. This was a little more digestible than that Skepta record from earlier, but it's all still very abrasive and grating purely in terms of some of the samples used and breakbeat-style beats that one would expect to hear in grime music. There's definitely no shortage of energy in Rascal's lyricism, and he's pretty introspective throughout, so I'm certainly not slighting the man himself here. I can acknowledge the fact that Dizzee Rascal helped push grime to the mainstream (in England I assume) via the efforts of this record, and I will rate accordingly. I will probably never enjoy grime music as a concept though, and that's fine. It all seems very region-specific, as you rarely hear this type of music in America. This is for a very specific subset of people who equally enjoy jungle, drum and bass, and hip-hop.
It’s not unlistenable, but it’s close. The beat is occasionally good, but it’s also often way too loud over the vocals. The whole thing is just too chaotic most of the time. I also personally just cannot make out a lot of the lyrics because of his blended accents. For people who like this, great. I will probably never be one of them.
Oh my. I fricken HATED this when it came out. Maybe I've mellowed, or never gave it space, but now I just don't really like it. Two stars, up from one.
bro crawled so jpegmafia could idk do his shi
En tykännyt.
Erilaista ja propsit siitä, mut biitit oli liian tökkiviä. Karvan yli kaks tähtee
I found out that aggrieved and bragadocious British rap isn't for me. Extremely repetitive rap without compelling flow or interesting lyrics. The pseudo-tough guy act was hard to swallow. ("I hit MCs like croquet." Hard core stuff there.) Somehow, both Dizzee and Billy Squire were improved on "Fix Up, Look Sharp," so cheers to that synergy. It was
Can’t do it.
Once again crappy Brit gangster rap
In 2003, this album won the Mercury award--essentially, it'd been deemed the best album of 2003. This was a fact I'd stumbled across way back when my group had gotten Coldplay's A RUSH OF BLOOD TO THE HEAD, where I discovered that it'd lost to this album. In fact, albums from Radiohead and The Darkness, and The Thrills' SO MUCH FOR THE CITY (which, hey, I like that album) had **all** lost to this album. This album, which--OK, I'm not British, and I was a little kid in 2003, so it's not like I would've known about this thing at its height. I can't throw the "Well, **I've** never heard of this album before" card at it. But I still hadda wonder the obvious--what **is** this thing's deal? What did British critics see in it? According to whoever wrote this album's Wikipedia page, it was its success that helped grime music gain mainstream exposure. So, hey, let's look at it like that--this is the album that brought grime to the common folk's attention. This album, more than any other, should explain the appeal of grime. And, honestly, it's because of this album I think I finally know why people don't like grime so much. In short: it can be pretty obnoxious. Every song this album is just... Loud. And kind of repetitive. I get the feeling that they were supposed to be "hype," but I don't get that feeling. I'm just... Kind of tired, honestly. And wondering, with every new song that pops up, how long it'll be 'til this album is over. Seriously, I do **not** think this thing needed to be just shy of an hour. The fact that way too many of the beats are kind of complete ass doesn't help. Seriously, the bass on some songs sounds like a bad, extended fart. Like, goodness, once I get over the novelty of this all being rapped in a Cockney accent... And, boy, don't even get me started on some of the obnoxious vocals and vocal effects sprinkled throughout this thing... What's funny to me is that this is actually the first UK rap album I can say I dislike. Like, A GRAND DON'T COME FOR FREE started out atrociously, but by the time it ended it'd actually managed to win me over. KONNICHWA, meanwhile, I think is just plain good aside from its lead single. They both had me wondering, in different ways, what UK rap and grime had done to make it so infamous to Western ears. And, well, I get it now. At least I have my own understanding of it. So, y'know, even if I'm never gonna listen it again (unless I wanna get a headache), I **am** happy I heard it, in some weird way. I wouldn't **recommend** anyone else to listen to it, but still. And, like, the only reason I'm not giving it a 1 is because... I'unno, a "1" always feels to mean unless I feel like an album **really** deserves. I figure if this album was shorter, or at least if I'd taken it in smaller doses instead of taking the brunt of it all at once, I wouldn't have been so down on it. Or maybe I would have, who knows? It's pure generosity that this thing might not actually deserve. So... Take it or leave it, I guess. (Speaking of things this album don't deserve, by the way--seriously. This album over the one with "Clocks"? Goodness me, British people have weird tastes.)
While British rap makes me laugh, this feels a lot like M.I.A's album where it's very simple beats backing some average/mediocre lyrics and flow. Way too long as well.
Not for me. Made it very hard to concentrate on work with the yelling and distracting noises. Low 2
I was really keen to give “Boy in da Corner”, and Dizzee Rascal, a chance. I credit the 1001 list for introducing me to a lot of great hip-hop so far, and thought perhaps my Tower Hamlets residency would give me a greater affinity for Dizzee Rascal (he went to school fifteen minutes from where I now live). Alas… I was wrong, and just couldn’t get on board with “Boy in da Corner”. Praised in 2003 by press and public alike as a great step-forward for hip-hop, and now synonymous with the UK’s grime movement, this album prioritises beats and electronics over melody, heart and soul. While the production is impressive (masterminded by a teenage Rascal), for me it’s not enough to compensate for such a lack of warmth. It’s worth singling out the songs I did enjoy, though. One of my highlights was “Fix Up Look Sharp”, which brings in the self-professed “big beat” against a sung-through hook and one of the most propulsive performances on the record. Another was “Just a Rascal”, one of the best “introduction” songs to an artist that I’ve heard in hip-hop, serving as Dizzee Rascal’s own theme tune. Dizzee’s vocals are solid across the record: he has a unique timbre which frequently cuts above the noise and elevates the record’s energy. For the best examples of this, check out his animated and impassioned performance on “Stop Dat”, or “Hold Ya Mouf”. The lyrics are pointedly conversational but lack much wit or depth for me: you also need an accompanying lyrics sheet to decode all the yelping. Beyond that, though, I struggled with most of the songs front-to-back. Solid production and interesting beats just couldn’t quite sustain themselves across a full record for me, and the repetition didn’t help. Songs like “Sittin’ Here”, “2 Far” or “Jezebel” are built around a single (fairly irritating) loop, or then we have those like “I Luv U” or “Round We Go” which repeat the same phrase over and over. Songs like “Sittin’ Here”, “2 Far” or “Jezebel” are built around a single (fairly irritating) loop, or then we have those like “I Luv U” or “Round We Go” which repeat the same phrase over and over. Songs like “Sittin’ Here”, “2 Far” or “Jezebel” are built around a single (fairly irritating) loop, or then we have those like “I Luv U” or “Round We Go” which repeat the same phrase over and over. Until it ends… and mostly, I just feel relief.
This wasn’t terrible, but it wasn’t great either. I wasn’t a huge fan of the music itself, but I could tell there were some real heart felt lyrics within the album. Sadly, I didn’t look up lyrics as I listened, so I did miss a lot of what was being said. I’m somewhat familiar with grime, so it was cool to hear the album that helped move grime towards the mainstream. But overall it’s not my thing.
Not a big fan of grime - I’m sure in its genre it’s great, I just can’t appreciate it prkperly
hmmm...
Not my cup of tea.
Respect because I do think this is very ahead of its time - by at least 5 years. And likely inspired many artists. However. It also hasn’t aged very well. Choppy and clunky beats and drops.
Not sure why but it just didn't capture my attention.
I want to like this, but the beats are too thin / sparse and the choruses that are present just don't land for me. I'm finding out I have a pretty narrow band of rap that appeals to me, and this falls well outside of it.
Inte för mig. Men man kanske fattar grejen lite ändå
Troep
Not my jam.
Listened to the first song which was fine but it’s not my music
not for me
Hmmmm
Glad I stuck with it, but the first few tracks didn't draw me in at all. I don't think I'll listen to it again though. Far too much EDM influence for my tastes.
It appears to me that Dizzee Rascal hasn't much to say. The raps seem juvenile and undeveloped.
Bits and pieces of some of the tracks are interesting to listen to. More than that is asking for a migraine.
On the one hand, i was completely uninformed about this artist and this larger genre. It was interesting to be exposed to it. On the other hand, this wasn't really for me. It was quite long and while the production was good I wasn't interested in the lyrics at all.
Grime: es una especie de hip-hop mezclado con ritmos arrítmicos electrónicos. Bastante insufrible. Un 2.
Couldn't quite get into this...
That is not how I remember Fix Up, Look Sharp sounding. It's like a weirdo happy clappy indie rock beat.
C'est insupportable, je peux comprend l'appeal mais ça fait juste m'étourdir de les entendre me rapper à 25 dans les oreilles
I like hiphop that doesnt sound like everything else but this is just not good and to appear in the list like noo
I learned a new term today, regarding genres: grime. It's essentially a fusion of hip-hop and EDM, with emphasis on very heavy, "dirty" beats on the EDM part. Hence, grime. I think it's a combination of the grime genre and the fact that this is UK hip hop, but in any case, this is unlike any other hip-hop on this album, hands down. Still, this album and genre didn't really resonate with me much.
Not for me 2/5
not special
Good music, not a fan of the lyrics
Some of the beats go pretty damn hard, but "grime" isn't really my thing and production on these earlier albums feel somewhat dated to my ears. Overall sound doesn't hold up as well to modern hip hop with the somewhat thinner sounding instrumentation, but that's just my 2 cents. "Fix Up, Look Sharp" is a bop, check out the live version off the deluxe version of Tongue n' Cheek.
Grime: es una especie de hip-hop mezclado con ritmos arrítmicos electrónicos. Bastante insufrible. Un 2.
"When Dizzee thinks very deeply—worrying about growing up, about those around him who won't grow up, about dying before he grows up—he sounds like, what else can we call it, the real thing". Where in the hell did this village voice reviewer get this from? He must have been listening to a different album.
First time hearing. 1.5x.
I couldn't stand the vast majority of this. Somehow I've never been able to get into grime, but I expected something more here - more than half of the tracks are basically unlistenable for me. I couldn't tell if the spoken word intro to "Seems 2 Be" was a joke or unintentionally cringey. The radio hits are way more palletable, and I enjoyed "Brand New Day" and "Do It!" (which sounds like a precursor to cloud rap), but that was about it. Fave Tracks: Brand New Day, Fix Up Look Sharp 1.7/5
I quite like Dizzee Rascal's more well known singles (Holiday, Bonkers etc), but this does nothing for me. He seems to have solid flow, but the whole thing feels very repetitive, and doesn't do anything for me.
Ok, now I like a fair amount of rap, from across 5 decades. I would not include this album among the most influential or best 200. Half of those are likely Wu related. But I digress. The beats are not unique, the lyrics lack originaly. This album is not awful, but for me, it's lacking. Maybe hearing Run DMC in the last couple of days has skewed my estimation? I don't think so, but I'll pass on Dizzee.
I was looking forward to this. I remember this album coming out and how much praise it was getting. And I really like Bonkers (not on this album though). This didn’t really hit for me though. Listenable, but not for me.
I hated this yesterday morning and then I put the remainder of the album on when I was a bit drunk in the evening and was feeling it. So, context dependent I guess. It was interesting to listen to, anyway.
Biitit on käännetty niin kovalle että tekee aika tiukkaa vastaanottaa tämä aistimellisesti. Ja miksi grime on aina niin Hi-Fi:ä? Harmi - pidän pohjavireestä.
Man, it was really weird to find this album on the list. Like, it’s fine, but more a goofy distraction than anything influential or must-hear
some catchy songs but most of the time I have no idea what he's saying. just sounds like a bunch of mumbling.
Not doing it for me. Sorry Dizzee.
I didn't give it a fair and complete listen but have low hopes that the later songs were a lot different than the earlier ones. Didn't hate it...
Assertive and energetic sound, with a dizzying flow and idiosyncratic vibe I like. Uncomfortably dark and misanthropic lyrics, particularly rough when he speaks about women. Ultimately, it's a lot to take and way too long. Fave Songs: Sittin' Here, Do It!, Stop Dat, Brand New Day, Fix Up
Not really my thing. I do like some rap/hip hop but it needs to be more tuneful. More catchy. I don’t get that from this
Not my thing for sure.
As with the other grime album that popped up, I can’t say I’m a fan of this. Still kind of interesting, though.
Listen the brits did a lot of things. Great rock and roll hell, we owe you big time. Stay away from rap, please.
I just can’t enjoy UK rap. Always just sounds funny to me
- beats were honestly fire - the rest of this was not my thing tbh, tough to finish
- it was solid at first - but it quickly felt cheesy - I just don’t love British rap
Jezebel is Panini for Millennials Best Song: Brand New Day Worst Song: Wot U On?, Live O
Not a fan. I like hip hop but Dizzee Rascal isn't my style. The song Bonkers by Dizzee, which is not on this album, is good and fun to listen to. Too bad that this album didn't deliver like that song.
No, thanks.
Just really not my kind of music
Nobody puts Dizzee Rascal in the corner...oh, wait.
I am not a fan of rap/hip hop, and I am sure this is influential for grime, but this is not for me. The overall production sounds good, but I found a lot of the beats really annoying and I did have to skip a few tracks. I also found this to be really distracting and hard to focus on work while it was playing. There are some good moments here are there, but this is my least favorite rap/hip hop album I've gotten yet. I am sure if you like this type of music it is really good, but it is not for me. 1.5/5
I never got into Dizzee.
Grime Rap? EDM mixed with British Hip-Hop. Repetitive and brings nothing to the table.
Too British for me
Mystically British album 1/5, I'll give it a 2 because I think if I wasn't thrown off by the accent I might be able to get behind this Sounds like a parody of rap music
Rap with the British accent doesn't quite hit as hard. Almost sounds a little comical. Can't tell if its my crappy work headphones, but the mixing of the album seems out of whack, music is too loud and is distracting. Also not crazy about the heavy electronic sounding backing music.
It’s okay.
Honestly, not my vibe to begin with but a little dull.
couldn't find anywhere to stream this in full. something to it, very impressive for a teenager, I can't get into it at all because London accents sound so silly
This is just Too British For Me.
Very weird. Kinda like it.
Hardcore Rap
This album didn’t really stand out to me particularly it’s not that but it’s not that great.
Ah, grime. Britain’s questionable contribution to hip hop. Can’t say I enjoyed this much - hard to understand and whack beats. Kind of funny.
Not very good, but not my genre
Oh man. I now understand that Dizzee Rascal is quite well respected as a pioneer of grime. But I'm not sure I like or get grime that much.. I could appreciate it on some level and I get it tells stories of a more gritty side of the UK. But I did overall find the music irritating. Soz. Fix up look sharp is a great throw back though
I feel very old saying this but, what is this Dizzee Rascal saying? For me you need to be able to hear and understand rap like this, surely that's the whole point, the lyrics need to be really good and say something, but with this I just can't follow it so I just lose interest very quickly. People always say that grime is all about the gritty UK and whatnot, and I want to listen to that but I just can't follow it. I guess grime just isn't a genre for me but I'm glad that I've been made to give it a good go here. Sometimes you just need to accept something is for the kids and the important bit is to be able to look across to them and think 'I'm glad they're having a good time'
Yes i did like this when i was 16-19. Revisiting this was tough. I enjoyed some songs but it ran too long and the album is so sharp and piercing to the ears it hurts sometimes. That being said. İt's much better than Moby.
I liked this less than I expected to. The two big singles and Hold Ya Mouf are good fun songs and stand out from the rest, but otherwise, the lack of light and shade just got a bit abrasive. He's clearly a master at what he does, but it feels like this was the album that he made before he realised that you're also allowed to have a bit of fun.
This wasn't really my style. I could listen to it but I would never listen again.
Not for me
I can't say I expected to get 2 rap albums in a row, but I'll take it I guess. Anyway, Boy In Da Corner is a weird album. It was one of the first big albums of the Grime genre, and I can't say I'm the biggest fan of it. It's not bad or anything. I just don't really get it myself. The rapping is decent enough. I don't really know if the accent works for rapping though. The beats aren't bad. They're well made. The writing isn't the best, but it's good at times. Surprisingly enough, I did somewhat start to warm up to it a bit by the end. That took a while though, as this album does drag quite a bit. Overall, I kind of understand why this was put on the list, but I wouldn't really recommend it myself. It just isn't my thing. High 2/5.
I should hate this. Its Grime apparently. I have no idea what he is saying. Its probably a blessing. I like the arythmic beats and the sample arrangements going on in some of these songs such as ' I Luv U' and '2 Far'. The beats on 'Fix Up' are great too. I've heard far worse than this, I wonder if it is because he is British that I don't find it alienating/ irritating? My take out from this is the drum machine and bass patterns going on underneath the rest, which I like and can appreciate. If this is an introduction to Grime, then it isn't a bad one. A mid 2.
I actually love the beats and aggression, however the rapping and length of the album hinders.
Det är galet dåligt men samtidigt hittade jag någon form av musik i några låtar. Tack vare det så kravlar skivan upp till 2.
This is just not my bag
Listened to 2.3 songs. Couldn’t do more.
Couldnt really hear what he was saying but the beats were intriguing
Well now I have a few less brain cells and i'm nearly an hour closer to death. I will always look back and regret this time I spent listening to this drivel.
its not bad but towards the 2nd half I was just waiting for it to end
Not a fan of this type of rap
34/100
Maybe could have been 3 stars as I was nodding my head a lot but all the misogyny put me off
not really into this
Decent for what it is, I enjoyed the bits where I couldn't make out what he was saying, didn't really hold my attention though
Apparently and according to Wikipedia, the genre for this album is Grime, but to me it could be Hip-Hop or Rap. Not too bad.
not my kind of grime
This was an interesting one. I'm not too familiar with UK rap, so this was basically my first exposure to it. The beats remind me of some nine inch nails-inspired stuff. Very gritty and borderline abrasive. Not typical of a rap record. I can see how this album influenced a lot of the newer sounds we hear today in UK rap and even spilling over into NY rap. I wasn't really a huge fan of this sound tho. That being said, I'm glad I listened to this.
AJ: explicit rascal.
Some OK tunes but otherwise annoying mumble rap.
Dizzee feels like that friend who makes music that you wanna support but you just don’t really like it that much
Had a good vibe, but his voice is like when you get a rock stuck in the tread of your shoe and you have to walk around with that feeling and that little clack of the rock contacting the ground, and there should be no clack, but there is a clack.
really boring
I acknowledge it has merit, but it’s not what I want to listen to.
I could easily name 1001 other albums I'd rather listen to. Musically some of the beats were kinda cool.
Growing up, I had heard of Grime, but never really listened to it. This style is definitely out there, heavy and "grimy", but I don't think I could listen to more than 30 minutes of it.
The British rap drill genre is always interesting to me. The beats and production are always pretty cool but the accents of the rappers make it either very difficult to understand or makes it sound cooler than some typical rap. This album was more of the hard to understand than cool but the production in this was pretty solid. Overall it wasn’t that enjoyable though as it felt very raw and unpolished compared to some other rap albums. 5.5/10
Rating here is more a matter of taste than execution. No doubting the innovation on this LP when it comes to wordplay and pushing lexical/vocal structures to their limits in artistic ways, just happens that several of these linguistic experiments rubbed me the wrong way. Album also ran a big long - could’ve been much punchier if each track slimmed down a bit.
I enjoy the beats and the hip hop sound, but I just can’t get over the accents. Not sure why it just grinds my brain haha. Can’t do it! Which is unfortunate because the music is good. Listen again: no Purchase for my collection: no Favourite Song:
Meh
Was disappointed
Not for me
Grime is not my thing, but upgrading to 2 stars for originality.
Oiiiiiii! Yes bruv. But equally, nah bruv. Time and a place for this, and it was early 2000’s. Not now, and not here. “Fix Up, Look Sharp” aside, it’s an album of its time.
Nah. Noisy, grimey, not for me. I like a melody. I'm sure the lyrics were profound if I listened.
Straight Outta Dickens
Nou, dit is dan wel echt waarom ik deze lijst volg: Ga het niet veel vaker draaien, maar toch leuk om eens gehoord te hebben.
2 keer aan begonnen en 2 keer kwam ik al snel tot de conclusie dat het niet het moment was voor deze plaat. Misschien is de conclusie dan dat dat moment er voor mij nooit zal zijn.
The album was OK. The beats were good. The rapping itself is not great. No need to revisit.
something weird about doing hip hop with a british accent. i made it three songs in before tapping out. not for me.
It was absolutely nothing notable about this except for how unnotable it was. We listened to one and a half songs.
Hmmm. Whilst some catchy lyrics and cool beats here, feels super repetitive. Remember it being ground-breaking for "crossing over" into mainstream at the time, but not sure it was *that* special
Early drill rap Pretty meh though 2.5
This was one of the most annoying things I've heard in weeks. It managed to be on my nerves the whole time, poking and poking at me like an annoying sibling in the back seat. No thank you!
The rapping was often incredible and the lyrics interesting and at times compelling. Unfortunately I found the songs very irritating. As I was researching this artist I stumbled on Dizzee’s album Tongue n’ Cheek from 2011. It apparently “breaks the commercial ceiling of grime.” Guess that’s what I needed because I love that album. This album is just to grimy for me.
Dizzee has been comprehensively lapped in his own genre.
This is the second debut album in a row. I didn't realize there was so much hip hop on this list. This one is a bit more experimental in some areas, and hard rap in others. Some of the melodies are really good. But I found it difficult to follow the lyrics.
It is interesting. The music is layered and has an electronic vibe mixed with it that makes it more dynamic. I definitely got the vibe on Fix Up, Look Sharp, but Dizzee's delivery and voice and not my cup of tea. A little too high pitched staccato, which makes it a bit of a slog to get through the whole album.
Hmm. I tried I really did. But I don't like the voice, the music, the rapping, the sentiment. I appreciate the effort.
Oi bruvs get in the bin
As I listened to this, I asked myself whether I would rather listen to nothing but Dizzee Rascal or nothing but The Fall. Thing is, both are challenging to my guitar-based-soft-rock-trained ears. However, Fix Up Look Sharp is genius, and the comedy and social commentary in Dizzee Rascal's raps/poetry is far more appealing to me than Mark E Smith's arrogant drivel-uh.
I wasn't a fan of this. I found it repetitive and tiring to listen to. I wavered between a 1 and 2.
I tried to sing along. Managed two words. I was thinking that this would be best love, but I'm not sure even that would bring this album into the high status. Too repetitive.
Wasn't a fan of most of this album. Far too much going on in the background of most of the tracks. Favorite track: Jus' a Rascal
I don't really like drill but I enjoyed this.
very strange, pretty horrible beats. just sporadic and loud. 2.
Quand c'est trop c'est tropico
Big shaq. Boom. Ya dun now. Quik maths Funny stuff, two stars for the novelty.
It was fine, but wouldn't ask to listen to again. Strangely enough though, I probably prefer this over some of the other rappers we've gotten on here
I only kinda wanted to turn it off the whole time
One of the funnier albums we've gotten. Less funny as it went on. UK Rap cannot be taken seriously. Roadman lingo very entertaining though.
Sorry Mr Rascal but this aged like milk in a greenhouse
The song I enjoyed most was Dance Wiv Me, and when I went to add it to my 1001 songs playlist I noticed that it wasn’t on the album, the album had finished and had gone onto that song. Oh well.
I haven't been exposed to Grime but I guess you'd expect UK rap to be influenced by the different electronic dance scene they have over there. I've never liked UK Garage or jungle too much, so I'm not likely to fall in love with rap influenced by these styles. That said, the first few tracks sound original. “I Luv You” with the female rapper Jeanine Jacques is interesting. I was less impressed the big hit, “Fix Up Look Sharp” which sounds more mainstream, sampling a rock song and a drum beat that apparently has been sampled three hundred times – so much for originality.
boy this was not easy to listen to, from the flows to the beats to the guy's voice. grime is not for me, but i'll give it a few points because i liked some of the beats and it's also pretty impressive that a teenager made this. 3/10
His vocal delivery is incredible but I ended up with a headache because of the beats. Just not quite what I look for in rap. 4/10
I like the idea of this debut more than the actuality. Personally, I find grime becomes a bit too generic after a while and I stop listening, so a full album is more than I want to hear. That said, each track has its merits.
Dizzee certainly has flow, but if we are discussing the actual relevance and staying power outside of this particular inflection point, I feel like the argument for him begins to fall apart. For a very small and myopic point this brand of British Rap was very prevalent, but it is hardly noteworthy at this point or much worth revisiting. Instead we get an occasionally grating debut album that shows skill, but very little polish.
Maybe I just don't like UK hip/hop that much, but this album is pretty abrasive to me. The production is indeed "grimy" and the lyrics are tough for me as an American to understand. Between the distracting beats and difficult-to-understand lyrics it was tough for me to get anything out of this.
Not my thing and didn't engage me, with the exception of I Luv U and Fix Up, Look Sharp
Very repetitive without any personality, didn't like it that much
1. Can't believe this is almost 20 years old. 2. Losing the will to live a couple of songs in. 3. I think 20 years ago, I was too old for this. 4. 20 years later, I'm still too old for this.
Look, it ain't my thing.
I don't know. I started out liking it, but this just isn't my thing for a whole album's worth.
2/15, 13%
Overall far too busy for my taste.
Some interesting beats, but overall didn't hold my attention
I appreciate that this album probably had some role in making Man's Not Hot happen
I had high hopes at the outset because the opener hits pretty hard. Then it got a bit formulaic for me.
Fine for what it is - and a banger is a banger, but not enough bangers here for me
I recognized the name Dizzie Rascal from his 15 minutes of fame in 2003. I vaguely recalled finding him interesting, and thus looked forward to listening to “Boy in Da Corner” nearly 20 years later. And it was, no doubt, interesting. It felt fresh and different, for either 2003 or 2022. The grime style is one I want to like. But uniqueness aside, I just couldn’t get into it. “Fix Up, Look Sharp” is the track I remember, and I do think that refrain is the coolest thing on the album. But while I’m glad grime exists, I think it’s just not for me.
I dub this album Beats Machine 1.0 programmed by Beats Technician 1.0. The amateurish beats are off kilter like two middle schoolers stepping all over each others’ feet at a dance. It’s hard to get into body bouncing rhythm Fix Up, Look Sharp was my favorite track.
Hip hop. Coñazo
Edge and energized and I suppose distinctive (I've certainly heard little like it, especially with the thickly accented rapping), but I find it also pretty annoying and not very relatable. He sure rhymes fast. Must be something the kids like.
Hey chums, it's the latest case of personal-iniquity-shredding-a-musician's-reputation! I don't wish to talk about the current nastiness surrounding Dizzie Rascal. Not least, I favour death-of-the-author, and have no probs separating the work from the artist. Anyway, in 2003 Dizzie Rascal was carried everywhere on a sedan chair held aloft by slavering critics, becoming that rarity of a respected UK rapper and symbolising the transition from garage to grime. I had the album myself, but in honesty I can't say I played it too much beyond the singles. In 2022, perhaps I can manage a more studied take. Firstly, Fix Up Look Sharp is an indestructible song, properly manic and banging, with this great playground sense of kids sharing yo mamma jokes. And Boy In Da Corner is at its best when it exhibits a childlike charm, when he's bragging about his trainers. But, gangsta posturing was surely passé by 2003, or at least it should have been? It dilutes the album's appeal considerably. Another point is the attitude to women. When does a cynical stance become a noxious one? A few times it appears to accuse young women of ensnaring unthinking men (and their money) by calculated pregnancy, and the title of the song Jezebel is as shrill a warning siren as one may require. This is where immaturity festers into misogyny. In retrospect, the initial appeal of Dizzie Rascal was partly the shock of the new. Audiences had already concluded that garage wasn't especially tantalising, and any step from that felt like the right one. But the actual slab we have hear is overlong, inelegant and not sufficiently charismatic. Later albums are an improvement, but it's slightly baffling to contemporary ears how this became the critics' champion all those years ago.
2/5 nope
Tää genre ei oo kyllä mua varten. Varmaan siis klassikko alallaan mut tän kuuntelu ei oo mulle erityisen mielyttävää. 2/5
Ihan coolit soundit mut en oo koskaan juurikaan välittänyt grimesta, aika tylsää musaa. 2/5.
I generally don't like rap, but do think that Dizzee Rascal is definitely among the better rappers I've heard. I liked the no frills electronic accompaniment as well and also the rather dark sound of the music. That said, it's still a style of music I generally dislike. Additionally, the nervousness and angstiness of the music made a couple of the tracks really hard to listen to. The album was also very long, which led me to skip a couple of tracks, especially around the middle of the album. 2.5 stars rounded down because I did quite a bit of skipping.
A noisy ride. Had some moments I liked but overall not my vibe
I don't do a lot of british hip hop. It's okay, but I'm not going to be seeking this album out
Seemed as if he was in too much of a hurry 'to spit'. Did not leave enough time to tell the story....
Undoubtedly creative, and undoubtedly not for me.
No acabé de escucharlo, de lo que he escuchado no he entendido nada pero me ha resultado bastante interesante y me gustan algunos temas. Una review muy vaga porque lo que escuche lo hice mientras iba a clase. Supongo que deberia haberme puesto los lyrics. Mmm yo que se.
A ver. Quiero que me guste esta mierda lógicamente, pero más allá de lo adelantado a su tiempo que está los sonidos están ridículamente anticuados (normal por otro lado) me saca un poco entre eso y el delivery del jambo, pero esas son las únicas críticas. No está mal. Es un estilo que no me encanta particularmente pero si esto es el del 2003 se ve la influencia fácilmente. MAD BANTER GOOD CHAT THIS BLOKE'S GOT THE PROPER FLOW INNIT.
Contextualitzat en els primers anys del mil.leni, com un dels primers i millors exemples de grime, rap anglés urbà i amb temàtiques del dia a dia, encaixava força bé. Però no em sembla gaire destacable musicalment, i amb els anys ha perdut l'interés que en algun moment va poder tenir
Didn't listen to it again, this is the score from original listen on solo list.
Rap isn't my favorite, and this album was kinda weird. But pretty impressive that we was only 16 at the time.
multi-layered yet minimal, disorientating, futuristic - but it is 18 years old! well done but not a record I will want to listen to again anytime soon
Eh. Not for me.
Boy in Da Corner by Dizzee Rascal (2003) If you’re tired of standard East Coast/West Coast hip hop, Dizzee Rascal offers a little variety. His Ghanaian/British accent and idiosyncratic background sounds are arresting. On the other hand, this debut outing is lacking in the production quality of mainstream American rap/hip hop. And his unalloyed meanness is unconvincing, clothed in a significant amount of sonic goofiness (e.g., “Hold Ya Mouf”). His compositions include flavorings from the Far East, Africa, 20th century European choral music, and a heavy dose of urban America. It’s really a wild display, by a young and conflicted soul. Rascal’s voice lacks menace and power, but he displays sufficient rhythmic sense to carry the songs in the absence of dominant beats. He seems to have discovered that overpowering percussion sometimes gets in the way of vocal performance. This is a plus. In the hypersonic “Jus’ a Rascal”, his athletic diction is given a full workout. Many American rappers could learn from him in the “percussive consonants” unit of Elocution 101. On the other hand, his vowels, blends, and diphthongs are frequently lost at sea somewhere between the English Channel and the Cape of Good Hope. “2 Far” is an interesting techno/hip hop fusion piece, rationalizing antisocial behavior while being accompanied by what sounds like Alvin and the Chipmunks. I don’t know whether to laugh, cry, or grab my .45 and inventory my family members. Interesting, but not enduring. 2/5
Anton Newcombe has listened to this a lot. Yeah, fuck you Stormzy, this is real UK grime. I can appreciate that this started off a scene, but it's not something I care for.
Grime, something I have a tendency to like but I have big issues with the mixing. Vocals have a tendency to not pop out from the instrumentals making it hard to follow the lyrics, which is not for the best. The songs sound disconnected and only Jus’ a Rascal popped out as a good bop.
No
nah
Interesting and bombastic backing tracks, and really started off like something I'd like, but got pretty annoyingly repetitive after a while. Barely finished this one.
One great track, Fix Up, Look Sharp - It's great because of the Billy Squire samples. Couple other pretty good songs. The rest is ok. 2.5/5.
Fun album, easy too what it has lead to in the current rap industry, but also has some boring themes and downright bad music, imo
:(
Not my style
I’ve listened to Dizzie Rascal a few times and one or two songs are good and I would listen to again the rest weren’t enjoyable and not my kind of music
2
Not my genre but still very decent.
Me door dit album moeten worstelen. Een 2-3-tal nummers waren wel oké
Just noise.
Good lyrics but most tracks are complete shite
not for me broooooooooo
Better than I expected I suppose
solide 2
Don’t get it, don’t like it, but certainly unique.
Meh, not my style at all, I didn't enjoy
I thought the first 3 songs were not so bad, but then it went downhill verrrrrrrrry fast.
its a unique sound but im not a fan perse
Look, this was a tough listen. Sometimes the instrumentals were cool, but ultimately, grime just isn't it for me.
j'avais déjà écouté cet album, mon avis n'a malheureusement pas changé depuis la dernière fois
Caca de vaca.
I really dislike most rap so this was tough for me.
No thanks
Oof, didn't like this one. Didn't hate some of the beats/instrumentals, but boy did I not enjoy an hour of this
I can't finish this. I just don't like it. It's thin, there's no production, the lyrics are just completely alien to my experience, there's no melody. I'm not made for this kind of hip hop and I'm not going to waste any time trying to 'get it'
Terrible electronic hiphop
Another win for the deaf
Couldn’t wait for it to end.
Didn't like it when it came out. Still don't care for it much.
bonkers that the "regular" version of fix up look sharp is backed by the big beat suppose i've only heard remixes mostly otherwise it's an ok album bit raw/spare for me I think
Noise pollution 😭
niet mijn ding
I fulfilled my obligation to listen to this album
Like...what? The fuck? This was so incredibly hard to listen to, it's tough to put into words. I suppose it's not egregious. Like it's not the kind of bad where your ears start bleeding. Just dumb. Like, stupid music. The beats are completely thoughtless and impossible to groove to, and the lyrics offer nothing. Like, nothing. This is actually an affront to hip-hop. Maybe I would like this more if I was a British wank. Like, oy fuck yea bruv me people be spittin. As for me, I will be throwing my plugged-in phone in the bathtub.
No. Just no.
I'm obviously missing something. But this was genuinely unplayable. 1*
I just dont get it! Wheres the talent? Theres no music no singing. Its crap
Bullshit
Yuck! Three in a row. Next album needs to be a good one.
Not for me. 1/5
English rap again? I thought I'd made myself very very clear on this point, tbh. Nevertheless . . .
Gave up on track 4. I saw that there was also an instrumental version on Deezer, but why would anybody even want that?
Tako mi i treba kad se žalim na Cohena i slične. 1/5, 1/10
Not my kind of album
Meh
There's nothing positive to say about this.
Holy crap I hated this. I knew from hearing his singles over the years that I didn’t like Dizzee Rascal so I didn’t expect much from it but bloody hell I enjoyed absolutely nothing about this.
1/1
I'm sooo over weird British rap
I'm so glad I don't have to hear Dizzee Rascal anymore
каждому своё
Does anyone actually listen to this???
Not for me but good production can't quite believe this makes the list though
Spomnim se njega & vsaj en komad s kle dejansko poznam Fak ej, the early 2000s so ble a weird time (zj sm dva komada v album). Prou ena najslabših zadev, k se je zgodila muski, je to, da ni več samplanja. Ker kaj je nadomestil zanimivo samplanje? Shitty elektronski zvoki, k se velikrat slabo postarajo in preprost ne zvenijo tok dobr ("I Luv U"). Fak, ful je preveč zvokov naenkrat ("Brand New Day"). Not in a good way. "Fix Up, Look Sharp" poznam. Še najboljši komad do zdaj, pa še to deli, kjer ne rappa Dizzee. 1 ura je ful preveč, ko te že nekje pr četrtem komadu glava boli. Pa filing je, da komadi nikamor ne grejo? Sam noise je, k se kr naenkrat konča. A to je grime? Ker potem, I don't like it. Plus, ne morm verjet, da je ta album tisto leto dobil Mercury Prize? Isto leto k Hail to the Thief?! Fak of.
Nothing here is for me. I dont think I could ever listen again
erm. ik ben meestal wel fan van experimentele dingen maar dit is echt gwn random dingen roepen en knopjes drukken de jongen in de hoek probeert stoer te doe
Atrocious. I could not wait for this to finish.
Nope! But fun to read the lyrics!
Brand New Day obtient la palme du loop de rap le plus insupportable cette année à date. Absolument aucun intérêt pour moi ici. Comme on crève déjà dehors, une chance que la journée est déjà perdue. T'as le East Coast, t'as le West Coast.... pis ben t'as le rap Anglais (exception Little Simz que j'ai bien aimé)... je sais pas c'est quoi leur revendication et j'ai pas la stamina pour aller lire les paroles, je vais présumer les politiques racistes UK (pré-Brexit). Cheeeeeerzzzzz
Détesté. Les beats etaient agressants, le delivery ininteressant. Le rap british c’est pas pour moi!
unlistenable garbage
Annoying, repetitive beats on loop. His unintelligible, squeaky voice and weird synth SFX really grate on me. Couldn't listen to an hour of this. 1/5
I see what excites the people but it doesn't excite me. The name Grime is definitely fitting because this is gross.
Genuinely awful stuff. An annoying cacophony of British rapping(?) over some of the worst beats I’ve ever heard with no breaks until Fix Up, Look Sharp, which was decent I guess. Not enough to redeem this garbage.
Geen favoriet vandaag. Dit album was niet mijn cup of tea.
Not for me
1/5 extremely hard listen (not extremely hard while listening unfortunately smh)
Dit is het gewoon niet.
Ik begrijp dizzee nooit zo goed, als iemand me kan uitleggen hou ik me aanbevolen.
Just a Rascal is fire but the rest are really mid. Still don’t like hip hop
Please leave Dizzee in «da corner».
I couldn’t get through this one. Not for me at all
Is this genuinely enjoyed by people? 1.2/5
This wasn't good.
Wow, that was genuinely awful. Apart from the obnoxious rapping, the production was bad too - the beats were pretty much all grating, repetitive, and boring. Really struggled to make it through this one, each song felt like it was twice as long as it actually was. I could also not stop thinking about this the whole time (which is at least funny-bad, not just bad-bad): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k3jlviX88iw
He needs to take his own advice and Stop Dat.
Not a rap fan
Tried to find something I enjoyed about this album but couldn’t. Didn’t mind the beats but overall just quite annoying.
Very bad
Pretty repetitive, and the rapper's voice is pretty irritating. Everything about this screams "meh", particularly for 2003 when the standards of hip-hop had long since been raised. Dizzee Rascal's material comes across as utterly bland, devoid of anything except looped synths and looped electronic drums and that voice that (truthfully) is equivalent to some kid yelling into the void. Pretty funny that "shit" is one of the top keywords for reviews of this record. I'm inclined to agree. The most-upvoted 5-star review writes, "Man, this site is racist". I get the sentiment – I really do – except that music traditionally associated with black people can also be really good. There's some fantastic hip-hop out there. Blues, soul, and funk are three of the absolute strongest genres of modern music. No – this isn't racism. This is tolerating, and then (correctly) rejecting, bad music. At least the opener, Sittin' Here, isn't all that offensive in isolation. But then we arrive at the aural monstrosity that is Stop Dat. That low bass-boosted synth is used commonly in present-day meme remixes, so it's hard to take the song seriously from the get-go. But then the Rascal comes in with his unbearably obnoxious voice. He doesn't attempt any kind of melody or interesting rhythm. He just spouts immature rage for four minutes. Those chromatic-scale synths at the end are entertaining, though. Almost saves the song. We continue onward, begrudgingly, with I Luv U – which is sort of catchy, and contains a much more listenable female rapping vocal. Another bass-boosted synth, too. (There must be a name for it.) But otherwise, I have nothing new to say. Bland, loud, unappetising noise. Someone else said "yobbish", and after looking it up, I have to agree. Yobbish is the perfect descriptor here. I won't continue my track-by-track rundown, because the remaining songs are much the same. The closest we get to "good" music is Fix Up, Look Sharp, which is non-coincidentally the most popular song on the record. 1/5 Key tracks: Fix Up, Look Sharp
Okay I swear I gave this a good chance, but it was honestly like 2 phone ringtones going off at the same time whilst a cockerney complained about whores in the background. I know that Mr Rascal has many a hit song after this where the music is incorporated with the rapping (B B B b B B Bonkers and such), so clearly he made his music more appealing to me later on. I hated this tho, couldn't understand what was being said coz the music in the background annoyed me, so got the worst of both worlds.
Really?
(1/7) some of the beats were fine but the rapping added very little
He's a good rapper but those beats are heinous
I’m sure the story is cool, but this just isn’t for me.
1/5 goofy ah beat
2/10 painful to listen to inconsistent annoying songs can’t understand the guy
90s head who values a more groove, so Dizzee’s aesthetic made me a bit dizzy -- and it just droned on. hard for me to get through.
its not the artists fault but I really hate this genre. I'm giving up halfway through. whether its 1 star or 2 depends on if I get through it by tomorrow.
Don't like
Really? Bad hip hop meets bad electronica. Definitively not for me. I added “Hold Ya Mouf” to my Generator playlist. It was the shortest track.
This has to be a joke
No. 1/5
Too repetitive and electronic for me. I almost liked the 4th cut "Brand New Day" but not enough to listen to it again.
He’s so British to the point where I didn’t even realize he was rapping in English until track 4.
I’m certainly no fan of Grime and this has done nothing to change my mind on the genre, was very happy for this one to be over and done with.
Eh. Not my thing.
Most annoying fucking use of loop pedal and sampling ive heard
Absolutely dreadful. I already can’t take British hip hop seriously. These beats were whack, all over the place. The “rapping” was a joke.
From the Vault #5 (February 21, 2026) The end of the hip-hop desert I've been crawling through is closer than expected. I've just counted my remaining hip-hop albums and I have 17 to go. Once I escape these dunes, I'll likely never have to listen to another one of these again. Feels good. I've, predictably, never heard of this album or artist before, and I'm not sure what to expect going off of the cover. Probably another pseudo-humble, grandiose album similar to that of Jay-Z and The Notorious B.I.G. Here goes. Oh, God. It's a British rap album. The whole aesthetic of UK Hip-Hop and the general roadman subculture depresses the hell out of me. To think that England was once romanticised as the high point of human culture and achievement. I really didn't jive with this one. The songwriting and instrumentals all revolve around the cockney accent of Dizzee Rascal, which is the most aggravating shit in the world to me. The vocals are aggressively airheaded and guttural, which makes me want to reach down this guy's throat, pull out his voice box and spend a night repairing it in the lab. The instrumentals were admittedly competent at first. There's a decent level of variety and some of the creative decisions worked. I particularly liked the strange, jangling sounds on "Brand New Day". However, the album quickly becomes oversaturated with the same, repetitious treble-y electronic tones, which I'm less enthusiastic about. This change in direction results in the second half of this album sounding noticeably flat, one-dimensional and lethargic. Overall, yeah, I kind of hated this one. Book time. Pioneered grime. Sold well despite having a noncommercial sound. A wide range of influences. Sounds alien. Won the 2003 Mercury Prize. Wikipedia says that this album was "...one of the most acclaimed records of 2003...", was a hit with critics and has received enduring praise for having an ongoing influence in grime as well as a generally timeless sound. I'm normally in favour of the list including niche and unconventional picks, but I'm not so sure about this one. Grime, trap, drill and all of the phenomenally shitty hip-hop offshoots that were popularised in the 2010s are creatively bankrupt to me. Of course, that's me talking as a hip-hop non-fan, and I suppose a similar comment can be made about butt rock albums and other commercialised forms of rock, but at least those albums don't offend my sensibilities and are backed by chart success. Yeah, fuck this album. I'm not feeling charitable today. In place of this album, I humbly submit "We Got It from Here... Thank You 4 Your Service" by A Tribe Called Quest for inclusion on the list (granted, I haven't listened to it, but I recall hearing it was good and I think they've earned a third list album).
No. 1.2
This album was bad from the very first song. By the half way point I didn't even bother skipping songs and gave up on it altogether.
I bused to like his music when I was younger. Now I can’t stand it anymore. Maybe that’s growing up?
Big-time hiphop fan. Hated it
noup
Would have preferred Dizzy by Vic Reeves