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Dizzee Rascal Album - Maths and English
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Release Date:2007-06-26
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Type:Unknown
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Genre:Electronic/Dance, Hip-Hop/Rap, Jungle/Drum & Bass
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Label:XL
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Explicit Lyrics:No
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UPC:4710810684968
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Review :
Until {@Definitive Jux} got involved, physical copies of {$Dizzee Rascal}'s third album were not distributed in the U.S. The {@Definitive Jux} version of {^Maths and English} followed roughly ten months after the original U.K. release on {@XL} -- baffling since the album is more likely to appeal to the average U.S. hip-hop fan than either 2003's {^Boy in da Corner} or 2004's {^Showtime}, not only due to an appearance from Texas underground giants {$UGK} on {&"Where's da G's."} Another obstacle is that, due to sample clearance issues in the U.S., one of the album's most hip-hop tracks, {&"Pussyole (Old Skool)"} -- with its use of the well-known break from {$Lyn Collins}' {&"Think (About It)"} -- had to be left off {@Definitive Jux} copies. Even without it, the album is even more of a grime disconnect than {^Showtime}, often more rooted in Southern bounce than anything else. Only {&"U Can't Tell Me Nuffin'"} resembles the {$Dizzee} of old from a production standpoint, its perturbed bass thrums and synth-string stuns, chirps, and sound-shards served up in a circular gait; it's buried near the end of the album. At the other end of the sequence, however, is {&"Sirens,"} a tense narrative over a chaotic production that throws neck-snapping percussion, head-banging guitars, and sound effects into a whirlwind of manic energy worthy of early agitated {$Cypress Hill}. That track, as well as the others mentioned above, stand out most, with only a couple others rivaling them. While {$Dizzee} can still drop a bewildering rhyme while being an MC of greater skill than before, his developments are not strictly for the better, as heard on {&"Hard Back (Industry)"} (where he dishes out tired wisdom about the recording industry), the pointlessly and relentlessly crude {&"Suk My Dik"} (i.e., "I do not care about haters, but here are some rhymes about how much I dislike them and what they can do"), and the {$Lily Allen} feature {&"Wanna Be"} (a lighthearted, amusing track with no replay value). It's {$Dizzee} at his least unique and least riveting, both sonically and lyrically, thus far. ~ Andy Kellman, All Music Guide
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