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Zero 7
Stars indicate the most critically-acclaimed albums.
A Little Deeper

Generally favorable reviews
Based on 19 critic reviews
How did we calculate this?
Based on 5 votes
Read user comments
Rate this album >
Album Info
Label: Interscope / Polydor
Release Date: 11 March 2003
Discs: 1 disc
Genre(s): Rap, R&B, Urban
Summary
A former member of UK hip-hop outfit So Solid Crew, Ms. Dynamite (aka Niomi McLean-Daley) earned Britain's Mercury Music Prize for this debut effort.
Also By This Artist: Judgement Days
What The Critics Said
All critic scores are converted to a 100-point scale. If a critic does not indicate a score, we assign a score based on the general impression given by the text of the review. Learn more...
E! Online
Ms. Dynamite's debut album is heady stuff, punctuated by groundbreaking beats, seductive vocals and melodies that lodge themselves firmly into your cranium.
Read Full Review >Ink 19
A Little Deeper is one of the truly defining albums of its genre, an album that future artists will look to for inspiration as well as be measured up against. An effortlessly stunning masterpiece.
Read Full Review >Urb
It's the album many heads wished Lauryn Hill had come back with instead of that weepy acoustic exercise. [Mar 2003, p.94]
Planet
A surprisingly mature debut record. [#3, p.87]
Blender
For her to pull off something as ambitious, gritty and accomplished as this at age 21 is flat-out amazing. [#15, p.127]
Spin
It's Dynamite's choice of subject matter that distinguishes her from other R&B divas-in-waiting. [May 2003, p.110]
Entertainment Weekly
Like Craig David, Ms. Dynamite seems happy to pad ''A Little Deeper'' with a few examples of suave, heartsick R&B.
Read Full Review >Stylus Magazine
Its phat, its hooky and its got tune after tune after tune of stylish, contemporary urban ragga-soul for 60+ minutes, all wrapped round with a voice like socially-aware and really angry honey.
Read Full Review >Dot Music
'A Little Deeper' is a lyrical bombshell and its only downfall is that the production has a tendency to sound flat and mundane by comparison.
Read Full Review >All Music Guide
The album's a bit more edgy than any of her American contemporaries, but it's still not too far from [Lauryn] Hill and other neo-soul figures.
Read Full Review >The Onion (A.V. Club)
Though Dynamite sometimes comes across as a moralistic scold, her slinky delivery and understated sexuality undercut the self-righteousness that sometimes infects Deeper.
Read Full Review >Launch.com
Occasionally, things are dumbed down by the naive politics youd expect from any teenager.
Read Full Review >New York Magazine
What gives A Little Deeper its heft, though, is Dynamites voice: She can hold a word so long it almost floats in the air, and she purposefully embellishes her girlish, almost kewpie-doll-like whine to deliver her most stinging rebukes.
Read Full Review >Splendid
It all adds up to a noble, well-produced and strongly-realized debut for a woman who obviously has more on her mind than becoming a pop star and cruising her neighborhood in a Bentley.
Read Full Review >Rolling Stone
On A Little Deeper, Dynamite pretty much owns the thin line between love and hate.
Read Full Review >Uncut
It's hard to think of a UK R&B album that sounds as formidably ready for the world as A Little Deeper. [Jul 2002, p.114]
New Musical Express
It takes a while to work out what an absolute waste of 21-year-old Londoner Naomi McLean-Daley's incredible talents this album is.
Read Full Review >Village Voice (Consumer Guide)
When she goes ragga on the way out I wish she hadn't been groomed for something bigger and blander. But she made her choice.
Read Full Review >What Our Users Said
The average user rating for this album is 8.8 (out of 10) based on 5 User Votes
Note: User votes are NOT included in the Metascore calculation.
Sir Jacksolot Moreplease gave it a 10:
this album is superb.i always enjoy it
Billy C gave it a 10:
wow, this CD is amazing so much better than the current music coming out of the US. This is so street and real. Go get it, its a classic!
Uyi O gave it a 7:
Ms Dynamite is the sure contender for the mantle left by Lauyrn Hill as the latter delves deeper from the mainstream. A little Deeper contains good lyrics and powerfull beats, the singer has the urgency of a new musical revolutionary
