Hello people, I'm back for another summertime (for those in the Southern Hemisphere, wintertime) rant. Last year, my rant was on the Kwaito vs House scene but this time
my concern is about a former UK Garage MC, Dizzee Rascal.
Back in 2002, I was more of a international Hip-Hop head but when it came to England,
I wasn't too sure about Garage. I was really more into Slick Rick, Roots Manuva, 57th
Dynasty, and Black Twang, but I wasn't sure about Garage artists like So Solid, Pay As
U Go, and Ms. Dynamite. A year later, I became more interested in the genre when I
heard about a young MC named Dizzee Rascal being stabbed by an un-named So Solid
Crew memeber due to his beef with Asher D, who was also in that group. Just hearing
about Dizzee made me interested in the genre and even researching about the scene
(little do most people know that "Garage" music began in 1977 by DJ Larry Levan in
his New York nightclub called "The Paradise Garage").
After being hooked on the music through BBC 1Xtra (when it was a great station)
all I could think about was Garage music and I even wanted to do was produce Garage music. When Dizzee came out with his second CD, "Showtime", it was more Hip-Hop than
Garage but it was still good. Boy in the Corner, his first CD was far by the best
Garage album ever relased. Three years later, when most of the world anticipatedly
waited for Maths and English to come out, I, like everybody out expected Dizzee
to come back with fire. Instead, he returned with sugar. Maths and English turned
into pop and was more weaker than Showtime. I dont mind Lily Allen but that Wannabe
track did not seem right. The only Garage songs were Flex and Temptation (with the
Artic Monkeys)
I was just starting to think then, has Dizzee Dizz completely sold out? He no longer
does UK Garage raves anymore but I can understand why, he reached out to a larger audience, yuppies. Over the years, he had beef with 3 MCs but the beef with
Wiley, the leader of Roll Deep (Dizzee's first crew) and Dizzee's former mentor seemed
ridiculous, even though I understand Dizzee's perspective. I wish Dizzee could return back
to his Garage roots instead of hanging around with indie (yuppie) musicians).
I can understand that he may be selling out for the best but his music is becoming
more weak and saturated. Critics are even dismissing his latest stuff (trust me, if
you ever heard his new songs "Bonkers", "Dance wiv me", and "Holiday", you might
wonder "WTF happened to Dizzee"?) Has Garage gone that bad that Dizzee has to do
Pop music?
That was my $10 rant.
