Too-clever Choices Leave A Dizzee Audience Far Behind

The Age

Thursday January 31, 2008

Craig Mathieson, Reviewer

DIZZEE RASCAL

Prince of Wales Hotel, January 29 www.dizzeerascal.co.uk

HALFWAY through his well-attended headline show on Tuesday night, British MC Dizzee Rascal made a play for easy recognition and fell short.

With his bare chest glistening and his cap rakishly set at a right angle to his forehead, Dizzee introduced a piece "for the indie crew" and his turntablist, DJ Semtex, proceeded to lay out a succession of modern rock hits to excite the audience as Dizzee and his protean offsider, MC Scope, urged the already excited crowd on.

Tracks by Arctic Monkeys and Kaiser Chiefs were unfamiliar to the crowd, although Nirvana and the White Stripes were duly recognised. Tellingly, there was a better response when the set segued back into Sirens, the cataclysmic single from Dizzee's 2007 album, Maths & English.

Perhaps he was trying to broaden his community, but it was an odd and uninspiring decision, especially since he's so obviously already part of another British lineage: the smart, working class and stroppy songwriter.

Dizzee Rascal - Dylan Mills to his mum - is only 22 years old, and has three acclaimed albums to his name that have made him the public face of grime, a variant of hip-hop from Britain. But the merits of his studio work - a hyper-constructed sound that's both alien and deeply in tune with his urban imagery - weren't always apparent on stage.

He settled for excitement and a brisk agenda; low-end sound squalls that bounced around the room and sections of fiercely programmed percussion.

In a way, he was too good. A prodigy's talent means Dizzee can recreate the intricate flow of his recorded lyrics, although it's hard for the uninitiated to comprehend him. Dizzee's fans were more than satisfied with tracks such as Flex and Jus' a Rascal, but they probably would have indulged him if he'd tried - and even failed - to articulate something more.

© 2008 The Age

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