Has ‘Boy In Da Corner’ outgrown Dizzie Rascal?

In every genre there are albums that define the very idea of subculture. Nirvana had Nevermind, Pink Floyd had Dark Side of the Moon. For Grime music and UK Rap the definitive album is Dizzie Rascal’s Boy In Da Corner.

Boy In Da Corner, conceived when Dizzie Rascal was only in his mid teens, presents supercharged, up tempo melodies and aggressive, bassy rhythms, so creatively put together they are unmatched even now by the highest calibre producers. Spitting bars that so perfectly describe the experiences of growing up in East London, in an energetic, witty, but explicitly raw lyrical manner. The album showed the world the undeniable creative genius that was and still is Dizzie Rascal, and shone a light on the emerging scene that would become known as ‘Grime’. 13 years after release, the individuality and diversity of sound that comes from Dizzie’s complex inspirations of Grunge, early Rap, Jungle, House and Garage music makes the album singularly important and truly timeless.

Boy in Da Corner spoke to a generation and every MC or rapper from the UK will tell you that Boy In Da Corner is one of the most singularly important pieces of work ever produced. “I was that Boy in Da Corner”, spits Stormzy, in his track Not That Deep, highlighting the album’s influence in him growing up. Even the man who has had the most strained relationship with Dizzie, Wiley, recently called the album the one and only true Grime album; the ‘Grime Bible’. (Granted this statement betrayes a slight amount of self gratification, being that the Godfather was part of creating the Album.)

But, as Dizzie proclaims himself about creating the music, it was never intended to be something ground breaking and genre defining. In fact, there was not even a genre to assign it to while he was working on it. Some tracks were attempts to basically make love songs. He wrote ‘Jezebel’ listening to Foxy Brown and Blackstreet's ‘Get You Home’, which is surprising given its raw, crude, East London council estate vernacular: “You might find her at a house rave, for the fifth time she’s getting whine from behind”. Other tracks he admits were specifically penned to get the best reaction, a reload in the raves or a play on the Westwood Radio Show.

However, as iconic as the album is, the work has only been performed in full once, earlier this year in New York, and never in the UK. That is until the recent Red Bull UK Music Tour some very lucky fans and a whole host of Musicians joined together in Copper Box Arena in East London this weekend to witness the performance of this ground breaking album. The tour showcased well known artists like Lady Leshurr, Giggs, Krept and Konan, and other exciting up and comers, but the jewel in the crown of this incredible music event was Dizzie Rascal.

The Warm up DJ kept the Levels high in preparation for the Base heavy sound and aggressively spat bars that were on the horizon for the 6000 strong crowd, but this lot were primed and ready from years of repeat listening so when the iconic notes of Sitting here came in and the curtain dropped to show Dizzie sat in ‘the corner’ of the set saying “Im just sitting here” the energy went absolutely off the chart! With ‘Jezebel’, ‘Stop That’ and obviously ‘Jus’ a Rascal’ gaining the highest of responses from the fans, the entire performance maintained the wave as every song was as iconic as the last.

The end however had an air of anti climax when the final track concluded and Dizzie casually walked off stage. The album was done, and so was Dizzie. To many it was disappointing. I’m not sure what exactly we all wanted but it just seemed to not do justice to the undying love we had all brought from years of playing the album and carried with us in our souls to the Gig.

Overall it was an event that you will tell everyone you meet about for the sheer happiness to feel involved in the iconic piece of work. The audience belted out every lyric and moved perfectly in time to the complex rhythms like a practiced dance troop, however the grumblings cannot go unaddressed, I can only explain this dissatisfaction as something this important has outgrown itself. Fans have sat with this album for 13 years and been gassed about the performance ever since they confirmed their place like they found the Golden Ticket in a Willie Wonka Chocolate. One fan commented at the end “It was just like playing the CD all the way through, he didn't care! I love Dizzie but he’s like an older brother that you love but he doesn’t give a s*** about you”. I think no matter what happened at the gig it was never going to be enough to really represent the impact of the music itself has had over time on everyone there, as well as the fact that it is always in the fans minds that Dizzie is not like the rest of the Grime Crew that still all work in the same circles, promoting the genre, keep the life blood in it even when it was starting to die, he is a bonfide Pop Star.

It’s only when listening also to the intimate ‘In conversation’ piece at the Yard Theatre in Hackney however, where Dizzie talked through growing up, getting into Music, inspirations, of course slight mentions to the Wiley fall out, moving into other Music and how he exists now that things come into focus. This really put so much of the album and performance into context and how the creator himself feels about it, bringing down the hype in a lot of ways about the scene that has become so important, breaking it down to just a guy that wanted to make music for the raves and mess around with different beats that made sense to him and his situation at the time. He spoke in contradiction to many other reports from MC’s who look back on the time that it wasn't all “I am Grime, this is Grime, WE ARE GRIME” he doesn't have this locked in association many others have towards the movement. He made the Album listening to Korn and grew up originally wanting to be a Jungle DJ and now he works with Pop artists, electro music and anything he feels like. That has always been Dizzie’s way and that is who he is as an artist but he also inadvertently gave birth to the Anthem of a musical movement that is on a pedestal as an unequivocal expression of Grime, something Dizzie is not and does not want to be.