Three years without an album, believe it or not - but the signs are Dizzee Rascal's not been one for resting on his laurels. His record label Dirtee Stank is up and running, but so far he's resisted the temptation to become it's highest profile act, instead churning out another dazzling opus to add to his XL canon.  Full text...

The grimy electro-pop euphoria of Flex sounds as classic yet totally other as Prince’s Kiss did when it first appeared.   Full text...

'Maths + English', his third record, has a strangely independent existence, and consequently sees Dizzee backing away from those grimey roots and producing his straightest record yet, delving into crunk, rock, drum'n'bass and pop with varying results.   Full text...

Maths would sound pretty damn good.  Full text...

It'd be a shame if it now falls on deaf ears.  Full text...

Maths + English finds Dizzee Rascal stuck where he was on 2004's Showtime, seeking to "climb the ladder of life, the wall of enlightenment", but being tugged back by old beefs and attitudes.  Full text...

Maths & English is a fractured affair, uncertain of its own voice and, therefore, lacking in cohesion and any ebb and flow. It’s as if it was made exclusively for the download market – there’s a top-quality EP of party-starting dancefloor bangers amongst the tracks here, but it is surrounded by a slew of fists-clenched fiery tirades, swarming like locusts, ready to strip it of its charm. Some tracks are simply too much.  Full text...

It's far too early to think that either won't get their creative juices flowing again, but with Maths + English, Dizzee ends up with a record that will more likely be defined by its failures than remembered for the success it achieves more often.   Full text...