Dizzee Rascal - Showtime

Forget the rest of it, skip straight to ‘Dream’. Go no further.

Marvel at that sample. You didn’t see that coming, now did you? Yes, it is what you think. Bow’s premier MC, the master of grime, is singing along to the chorus of ‘Happy Talk’. You couldn’t make it up.

What’s more, it’s fantastic. As much as a relevation as ‘Dry Your Eyes’ was for Mike Skinner, Dizzee is going to ride ‘Showtime’ right into the higher echilons of superstardom. ‘Stand Up Tall’ is already making everything else look stale and bored, and even though most of us don’t have a clue what he’s on about, we still love it.

‘Respect Me’ shows just how autobiographical Dizzee’s tracks are, and proceeds to be a track of such strength that you’re left gasping for breath by the end. We won’t be going to Ayia Napa for a while after hearing ‘Hype Talk’, while ‘Get By’ takes a vaguely eastern melody, and then adds the kind of honesty most others would avoid (‘real life kiddies with real life guns/real life mothers loosing real life sons’.)

Inventive, shocking, funny and though provoking in equal measures, Dizzee hasn’t stopped pushing the limits just because he’s got some recognition. If anything, ‘Showtime’ tops ‘Boy In Da Corner’, and praise doesn’t come much higher than that.