Dizzee Rascal Maths + English by: Dean Van Nguyen Fri:27-Jul-07 Label: XL Year: 2007 WB rating 77 out of 100

What does it mean to be Great Britain’s flagship rapper? The nation which has provided some of the most influential rock acts in history still seems, intentionally or unintentionally, to keep their foot firmly on the hose to stem the flow of the Urban scene, forcing it to cellar-dwelling underground status. Even breakthrough acts suffer longevity problems, have you heard what the So Solid Crew or Ms Dynamite have been up to recently? Thought not. Singer Craig David fell victim to a series of harsh comedians who saw a funny side in him and left his reputation in shreds. This wouldn’t happen in the United States, a nation that continues to allow R. Kelly to record tracks with titles like ‘Sex Weed’ after almost two decades, and a notorious sexual history.

Dizzee Rascal is pissed off. Pissed off that at album number three he still hasn’t received the respect he craves from his own compatriots, the very people who should be his biggest cheerleaders. His response is to extend a firm middle finger to his critics (as illustrated on the albums back cover), responding to them head on with tracks like ‘Suk My Dick’ and ‘You Can’t Tell Me Nuffin’. The lyrics on the former verge on a juvenile schoolyard attack, Dizzee even audaciously dropping a sample from the childhood rhyme ‘Yankee Doodle’ suggesting he is fully aware of his brattish behaviour. “Just let me be, man!” he wails between verses.

With his harshest critics residing in his home country, unsurprisingly, Maths + English has one eye on the American market, as Dizzee takes another stride away from the grime scene into more traditional Hip Hop; a move which is underlined by the guest spot from Houston rapper UGK – ‘Where’s The G’s’ choruses add a very nineties G’Funk whistle.

Despite these changes, Dizzee’s main asset is his rhymes and Maths + English delivers, proving he is one of the most talented lyricists when it comes to punchy, to the point expression. On ‘Excuse Me Please’ he’s pondering some interesting questions “If a policeman kill someone is that policeman still a murderer/He's got a worthy cause, I guess that gives him some immunity/Or is he just another lost soul in the community”. With such maturity and terse social commentary, it’s easy to forget he is only 22 years old.

‘Sirens’ is Dizzee at his best. Aggressive but fluid rapping over an El-P esque beat, it plays like South-London’s answer to ‘Straight Outta Compton’. Arctic Monkey’s Alex Turner lends vocals to ‘Temptation’ which sounds more like a dodgy mashup rather than a standalone track. The collaboration with Lily Allen ‘Wanna Be’ is much stronger. A jazzy pop tune where the two share surprisingly good chemistry, it would have nicely slid onto Allen’s album Alright Still.
 
Maths + English is a natural progression from Dizzee’s earlier work. The production slightly cleaner, the rhymes sharper and the subject matter more mature as his world grows around him. At a digestible 14 tracks it’s also refreshingly short for a Hip Hop album, cut down to 10 songs and this could have been London’s answer to Nas’ classic Illmatic. But this is an album where its victories far outweigh its defeats.