The following is an expanded version of an article I wrote for SF Weekly.
Regional scenes are the engines that drive mainstream U.S. hip-hop today. For every Kanye West, there’s 20 Souljah Boys, artists that make regional hits that have translated into financial and Billboard success. Yet American audiences have yet to really embrace many hip-hop artists from overseas. Case in point: Dizzee Rascal, a savage MC from East London who’s still unknown to many U.S. hip-hop heads.
Rascal broke out of the U.K.’s Grime/Garage scene of the early ’00s, a movement that spawned breakout artists like M.I.A., Lady Sovereign, and The Streets. Dizzee started off much like other grime artists; MCing on pirate radio stations and at raves and underground venues since he was 15. He rapped with a heavy cockney accent, and filling his rhymes with native slang, and flowing over beats that sounded like (and often were) generated from a video-game console. He first achieved acclaim in 2003 with the songs “Fix Up, Look Sharp” and “I Luv U,” and his debut album Boy in Da Corner. “Fix Up” was a Top 20 hit on the U.K. charts and Boy in the Da Corner was awarded the Mercury Prize, an annual award given to the best album released from the U.K. and Ireland. The album also earned him attention in the U.S., as Rolling Stone named Boy in Da Corner one of the 50 best albums of the year. In 2004, he released his follow-up, Showtime, which debuted on the U.K. charts at #8 and solidified himself as the star of U.K. hip-hop.
Despite Dizzee’s continued success in the U.K., his lyrical ferocity is known by a select few in the U.S. This might be due to the fact British hip-hop hasn’t always been the most user-friendly. MCs rapping at warp speed with a thick British accent sound completely unfamiliar to the average mainstream listener. Furthermore, in a climate where listeners are already inundated by hip-hop from every region of the U.S., it’s pretty easy for overseas MCs to get lost in the shuffle.
“America has the best of what the world has to offer when it comes to hip-hop,” Rascal acknowledges. If a 20-year-old from Oakland is able to identify with the sentiment behind the lyrics of a southerner like Lil’ Wayne, it’s not much of a stretch that the same person can identify with the raw reality Dizzee expresses on his albums. “People are willing to listen to something new,” he adds.
Dizzee hopes the U.S. release of his latest album, Maths and English, will put his name in the hearts of minds of American hip-hop heads. Sonically, Maths + English is much more straight-ahead hip-hop album than he’s previous releases, both musically and lyrically. “I worked a lot more on my flow, so it was easier to follow,” Dizzee says. “I still use a lot of slang, but I just slowed things down a bit so people could understand what the fuck I was saying.” He exhibits a more deliberate flow on Math’s opener “World Outside,” a mellow, introspective track where he explains why he’s has to remove himself from the London hood life to make positive moves in his life.
The production manages to sound both grimy and accessible. And while some of the songs are crafted to sound more “familiar” to American listeners, sporting traditional drum breaks and the occasion soul sample, the album still retains its British feel, as his frenetic Garage sensibilities are still apparent on songs like “Sirens” and “Temptation.” It’s a middle ground that both Dizzee and his new record label, indie hip-hop juggernaut record label Definitive Jux, hope progressive hip-hoppers will embrace.
“I think it’s a dope, new, relevant sound for America, and the shit is really edgy,” says El-P, Definitive Jux’s owner and an artist on the label. “It’s hard not to put on [Maths + English] and not want to punch someone in the face. But I make music that sounds like that, so maybe I’m biased.”
El-P says he feels the time is now right for this album. He’s known Dizzee for years, and has turned his friendship with the Brit into a musical partnership. The two are hitting the road together now as Rascal launches his first tour to the U.S. in three years.
“Working with Def Jux was the best situation take get the album out in the U.S.,” Dizzee says. “They’re at the top when it comes to putting out independent, cutting edge hip-hop.”
It took to a year for Maths + English to get a proper U.S. release on April 28. Previously XL Records had only made the album available digitally. The American version has three new tracks, including an El-P produced remix to “Where’s Da G’s?” featuring UGK. Dizzee first met Bun at the 2003 South By Southwest music festival, and the two became first friends. Bun has since completely embraced Dizzee’s efforts to blow up stateside.
El-P has nothing but glowing things to say about his experience working with Bun B. “He was so cool and knew everything about me and [Def Jux],” he says. “He’s the prototype for the open-minded mainstream MC.”
Sadly, “Pussyole (Oldskool),” one of the best songs from the original release didn’t make it to the U.S. While Dizzee was able to clear the James Brown samples in the U.K. (where sample clearance laws are different), Dizzee says the protracted dispute over Brown’s estate prevented the track from making the U.S. version of the album.
Dizzee is ready for Math + English to launch him into the American mainstream, and he’s not at all sentimental towards his years in the U.K. underground.
“Yeah, I really miss getting jerked for my money at shows, dealing with dodgy promoters, and always having to watch my back when I’m at a club,” Rascal deadpans.
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