25: Dizzee Rascal - Boy in Da Corner

The ultimate record from the noughties. He was 19 years old when this came out and won the Mercury Prize. This record was everywhere at the time and, to be fair, unlike most Mercury winners he went on to do much more. This was a pre-holiday record for me so I haven't given it a full weeks listen but my initial impressions are that it's very much the sound of a 19 year old. Lot's of grimy electronic type sounds and some decent rapping.

I didn't find it a fun listen, it's a bit tiring but it ticks the right Mercury boxes so it's unsurprising that it won (defeating the likes of Athlete!, The Darkness!, Marina Topley-Bird!). The production, being grime heavy, is good but too simplistic for me. And I know it's a snobbish thing to say, but I find the type of electronic sounds here a little stupid. It all sounds like a child with a decent synth pressing four keys. Grandad.

The big single, Fix Up, Look Sharp stands out. The OOOOiiiii! starting and then the cut up of Big Beat which is a smart move. And, adding weight to my internal theory, Dizzee's rapping is raised on this. Proper Production you see. There's some hints of the route he would take - basically stupid rap. It's all too long and could easily lose 5 tracks but it is of it's time and does represent something. It doesn't feel as fresh as it probably did at the time but it's still enjoyable.

Here's what happens when you turn the "Urban" knob on the video camera up to 11: