Maths And English (Parental Advisory) [Digipak] - Dizzee Rascal > Reviews > You Dizzee Blud?

Author's product rating:   

Originality	Lacking inspiration
Lyrics	Standard
Quality and consistency of tracks	Consistently bad
Value for Money	Poor

Advantages:	Fans should appreciate it
Disadvantages:	Not a step forwards

Recommend to potential buyers:

no

Full review

22 year old Dizzee Rascal, born Dylan Mills, is quite easily the most popular rap artist to come out of the UK in quite some time. Originally a member of 'Roll Deep', Dizzee found himself leaving the group after a conflict with fellow member Wiley and has now gone on to have greater success. From 'Boy In Da Corner', his debut 2003 album, Dizzee then followed up with 'Showtime' in 2004. It may have been a long time coming, but 'Maths And English' is his third album and I'm sure there's quite a bit of pressure for it to be a success. The title for the album stems from 'maths' referring to beats, and 'english' referring to rhymes. The cover features Dizzee standing up on a pink background, in front of the albums title text.

WORLD OUTSIDE - "There's a world outside of the hood."
Track One - 3mins 7secs

I think it's always important to start an album off with a powerful track, and Maths & English begins with a sound that sounds like a hoover gone wrong. About 30 seconds in, Dizzee's destinctive voice kicks in, and whilst the beat does not vary at all throughout the song by changing the tone of his voice the song gets slightly more interesting around the chorus. The track is about, you guessed it, the world outside of the 'hood'. Anyone who's not a fan will not be pursuaded to be a fan by this track, however this track is an introduction to what Dizzee is about, even getting 'standard' in as a lyric near the end. ONE STAR.

PUSSYOLE (OLDSKOOL) - "You know that he's a pussyole."
Track Two - 3mins 27secs

This track begins a lot more upbeat than the previous, and is pretty much just an insulting song. I've got a bit of a challenge on my hands here, because the album is so new they haven't got the lyrics up on the internet yet. The chorus is an in your face statement of 'pussyole' and whilst many will probably be offended by this track, from a fanbase point of view for Dizzee this is probably much more interesting than the previous track. TWO STARS.

SIRENS - "Better run when you hear those sirens coming."
Track Three - 3mins 27secs

For a selling point of the album, Sirens was released as the first single that is quite different from previous Dizzee singles. It's not really about the fast hooks, rather than the point of the song, which is getting away from the sirens - the police. You would never expect to hear a lot of guitars and drums in a track like this, so perhaps this was done to sell the album to a wider audiance, but how loud and instrumental it gets near the end is a turn off to the typical fanbase. The video features an old school policeman breaking into Dizzee's house on a horse, whilst he is just sitting around with no shirt on (anything to show he's built, eh?) THREE STARS.

WHERE'S DA G'S - "Where's the dough? Where's the cash? Where's hoes?"
Track Four - 4mins 54secs

The track begins quite slow, but I would say it probably has the best rhymes of the album so far. The song is all another big insult, saying some people aren't as 'g' as they believe they are - that's basically cool for an easy explination. Bun B and Pimp C feature on this track, and there voices fit on really well on this longest track of the album. I think those two featuring are actually American though, and some people have something against British and American grime music crossing over, so you'll probably either love or hate this track. I'm guessing it was probably the American infulence that made this the longest track on their album, as 5 minute tracks seem to be the thing to do at the moment over the pond. THREE STARS.

PARANOID - "Laying in my bed I'm a nervous wreck."
Track Five - 2mins 36secs

For those who can't keep concentrated, the longest track is followed by the second shortest. The song is Dizzee rapping about being scared of many things.. paranoid about many things, whether it be people after him or what his girlfriend is up to. Quite an uncharacteristical song for Dizzee. I'm liking the slow beat and lyrics. Oh and if you haven't noticed the swearing on the album up to this point, you will notice the F-word on this track. A very repetitive chorus. THREE STARS.

SUK MY D*CK - "My hat is low, my trousers too."
Track Six - 2mins 58secs

Will Dizzee throw a curveball and this song not actually be about what you'd think it is? Well no it's not about sex, it's about the insult 'suck my d*ck'. The song is a statement to what people think about him, and saying how he doesn't care. You feel at this point the album is really getting on a roll of swearing and street lingo so if you haven't liked the album up to this point so it's unlikely you will further to this point. The beat and lyrics work for me though, or should I say the maths and english. THREE STARS.

FLEX - "I love it when you move like that."
Track Seven - 3mins 31secs

The album is really in a happy mood at this point and the song is all about watching your girl flexing, and how inviting and exciting it is. Another feel good song, and seems quite uninteresting however about half way through it tries to regain your interest again and does it quite well. A semi-romantic song. THREE STARS.

DA FEELIN' - "Life is what you make it."
Track Eight - 3mins 56secs

Very unusual beginning to this song, and it reaks of the American infulence he's gotten from being overseas. This is designed to be a summer tune, as Dizzee tells you at the very start of the track. Probably the fastest Dizzee has wrapped so far on the album, and I'm sure that's what many of his fans that were impressed by his first two albums were waiting for. There is a female voice in the background, although it goes uncredited so I imagine it's no one famous (although it was originally rumoured Joss Stone would feature on this track, although Dizzee rubished that report). I'm not 100% sure what the feeling is supposed to be, I think it's the feeling of women in the summer. Never really lives up to its fullest potential. THREE STARS.

BUBBLES - "Life's a jungle everyone wants to be the king."
Track Nine - 3mins 29secs

This track is a lot more low key compared to the previous, especially if you're crying out for more of what you heard from the track before. The song is all about Dizzee being the 'real deal', and whilst this isn't going to win any awards for the best song on the album, you can't deny it is bareable. TWO STARS.

EXCUSE ME PLEASE - "What are we fighting for."
Track Ten - 3mins 39secs

Once again I would say the beginning of this track really does sound like it has an American infulence, the beat really seems like something you would hear on an American's rap track. The premise for the song is that Dizzee thinks the world has gone crazy, and trying to get listened to, and he even does the very American thing of mentioning the war in Iraq. Wow, who has this guy been hanging out with? As you enter the last minute, the lyrics get more powerful, although I'm not sure I could listen to this song again. TWO STARS.

HARD BACK INDUSTRY - "Keep your eyes on the ball."
Track Eleven - 3mins 39secs

This track is probably one of the mostheard off the album, as it was the one that leaked around first, although it was going by the name of 'The Industry' as opposed to its official name. The song is all about the music industry, and finding the right deal for you, and then the people that pop up after you find fame. Another slow track. TWO STARS.

TEMPTATION - "Seen it all so I need a change."
Track Twelve - 2mins 34secs

Featuring Alex Turner, who is apparently out of the Arctic Monkeys, I'm quite shocked to see this collab. The song does begin much more like a main stream song, which you would expect from a song involving someone who is very popular at the moment. I can't stand Alex's vocals personally, so thank god this is the shortest song on the album. The song is, as you would expect, about fighting temptation. ONE STAR.

WANNA BE - "Your mum buys your bling."
Track Thirteen - 3mins 23secs

This track sees two of Britain's biggest artists coming together, as Lily Allen features with Dizzee on this track that is not a cover of the Spice Girls wannabe. Lily Allen even opens the song vocally, and the beat of the song is just as bouncy as any of her previous releases. The theme of the song is talking about people who are wannabe gangsters, and unless you like Lily you are unlikely to actually like this song. It's all a bit too skipping down the street for me. ONE STAR.

U CAN'T TELL ME NUFFIN' - "You want beef, prove it."
Track Fourteen - 3mins 31secs

Completing the album is a track that begins with a very strange beat and the album is ending how it began - not very impressive. I believe the song is all about no one being able to tell Dizzee what to do, and that he knows everything already. It's quite agressive, but it's not really impressing me. ONE STAR.

Overall, am I surprised that no track could better a three star rating? Not at all, because whilst I like Dizzee I'm not a diehard and from my point of view, this guy isn't pushing the barrier as much as he was when he first hit the scene. Whilst 14 tracks is probably good value for money, I wouldn't find myself wanting to listen to every track ever again.