Dizzee Rascal
My only previous experience of the Dizzee Rascal live experience was a gig at the LCR back in 2009. I was younger then and it got pretty messy; a massive party with Dizzee as our ringleader. He had just released his Tongue n’ Cheek album and was about to cross over to mainstream success with the triple whammy of smash hit singles Dance Wiv Me, Bonkers & Holiday. He could do no wrong, yet follow up album The Fifth was a commercial disappointment and it became apparent that he was going to have to go back to basics to reclaim the rep that his crossover success had destroyed, in the eyes of the grime community at least.
2017 finds Dizzee touring in support of latest album Raskit which is a truly excellent return to credible form, and with the LCR filled to bursting point it felt like everyone was ready to welcome back one of the genres biggest stars. Support was provided by Donae’o, a London based singer & MC, who has released a couple of big tunes already this year and has worked with Giggs, notably on the track Lock Doh, but also features on his new mixtape which was released last Friday. Lucky for us then, because not only is he fast becoming a name, but he did a superb job of warming up the crowd. Rumbling bass, garage beats, clear vocals and a confident stage presence combined to allow him to make the absolute most of his slot. Even though he has been on the scene for a while I still suspect we’ll look back on this set in the future and be able to say we saw him before he became a star.
I’ve rarely seen the LCR as full as it was last night, but I managed to squeeze myself onto the floor and from the minute Dizzee appeared it was as close to the perfect live show as you could get. The bass was MASSIVE, as loud and heavy as I’ve ever experienced, bass you feel, not just hear. The lights were fantastic and the large screen provided eye piercing visuals throughout. Admittedly the show didn’t feature much light and shade, only Jezebel really dropped the pace significantly, but we came to party and that’s exactly what we did. Opening with Space and Ghost, two of the best songs on the new album, showcased Dizzee’s lightning fast rap skills – absolutely amazing to see. All eras of his career were covered – tracks off his Boy In Da Corner debut still sounding as alien and ground breaking as they did back in 2003, right up to the many highlights off the new album – Bop n Keep It Dippin’ being one of the best. He was joined throughout by co-rapper MC Scope and to hear the pair of them spitting out bars in unison was fantastic.
Regardless of what the purists may think ending your main set with Jus A Rascal, Heavy (his Chase & Status collaboration), Bassline Junkie, Dance Wiv Me & Holiday was epic, the whole venue unified as one huge dancing throng. To then be able to return to the stage and take things to an even higher level with Bonkers was just monumentally GREAT. It’s what I go to gigs for.
Nice one Dizzee, he is still very much the man and it’s so good to see him back where he belongs – back in the charts and selling out venues but without anyone muttering ‘sell out’ in the background.
