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Showtime
by Dizzee Rascal
The UK rapper follows his Mercury Music Prize-winning debut 'Boy In The Corner' with this sophomore release.
| LABEL: |
Beggars Banquet / XL |
| RELEASE DATE: |
14 September 2004 |
| DISCS: |
1 disc |
| GENRE(S): |
Rap |
NOTES: Includes a bonus DVD with videos.
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...
100
Alternative Press
It's the urgency of [Dizzee's] brash Brit patois that dares you not to decipher it. [Jan 2005, p.114]
100
Mojo
What Dizzee Rascal has done with this record is find his own - profoundly satisfying - balance between grime's digital vortex of ringtones and car alarms and an older more contemplative electronic tradition. [Oct 2004, p.104]
95
Lost At Sea
One of the finest pieces of pop music to drop this decade.
91
Spin
At its core, Showtime is a classic sophomore album in the hip-hop sense: puffy with bluster, brimming with indignation. [Nov 2004, p.107]
90
The Guardian
Beyond his trademark agitated yelp and panic-attack rhythms are all manner of surprising and compelling sonic twists.
90
PopMatters
Aside from a couple of hiccups (the clunky R&B of "Get By", the silly call and response of "Knock Knock"), it's every bit as good as Boy in da Corner, and sometimes even better.
90
New Musical Express
Lyrically it's astonishing. [28 Aug 2004, p.55]
90
All Music Guide
If Showtime isn't the equal artistic success of Boy in da Corner, it's slightly superior, stunning for the facts that it arrives so swiftly after the debut and is far from a retread.
89
Austin Chronicle
With Showtime, the very idea of diagramming a single line is enough to cause black wormholes to open in the listener's mind – quantum physics by way of South London slang.
88
ShakingThrough.net
Whereas Boy In Da Corner was the sound of a young man expressing the fear and frustration of growing up in a dangerous and bleak environment, Showtime reflects the confidence and ebullience of a maturing artist optimistically embracing a bright and hopeful future.
86
Pitchfork
The album naturally lacks the shock of the new, the jolt of Boy in Da Corner-- instead, it's a consolidation of his strengths, lyrically and sonically, and a more satisfying listen than its predecessor.
85
RapReviews.com
Do NOT approach this as a rap album, or you will be perplexed to no end. This is cerebral, intricate and inventive electronically-based music that is certainly hip-hop in ethic and inspiration, but channelled through a uniquely British conduit, interpreted by one of the more intriguing urban poets of recent times.
84
Filter
Try as you might, there's no pushin it out. [#12, p.101]
83
cokemachineglow
While Showtime has one or two more duds than its shock-assault of a predecessor, its continued siege is of essentially comparable caliber.
80
Playlouder
Bottom line: One dimensional ghetto fodder this is not.
80
Q Magazine
Seems to focus more on Dizzee's virtuosity as a producer than a rapper, and teems with exotic noises, odd rhythmic loops and unexpected shifts in mood. [Sep 2004, p.112]
80
Stylus Magazine
Significantly altering the sound that won him critical praise and sold a quarter of a million albums takes some nerve. And that's what Showtime is about: Dizzee's newfound confidence.
80
Splendid
Dizzee's voice still sounds like a helium-inflected hiccup, and the beats still sound like they were recorded directly from a Nintendo, if not an Atari.
80
The Onion (A.V. Club)
A fattened-up answer to 2003's Boy In Da Corner, Showtime finds Rascal brooding over matters great and small without sounding overly ponderous or somber.
80
Neumu.net
It's a disc in which Dizzee diz, lyrical wiz, is more forthright as lyricist, using the blank canvas of an "album" to sketch together a thoughtful, carefully-sequenced set in which his voice, and its elastic accent, ring clear.
80
New York Magazine
On Showtime, Dizzee doesn’t give up his sonic adventurousness, but he is a lot more disciplined about it.
80
Urb
[A] solid sophomore effort. [Nov 2004, p.98]
80
Village Voice
A brash, dazzling dispatch from a parallel universe.
80
Blender
Some of Dizzee's insecurity is replaced by newfound swagger. But swagger works, too. [Oct 2004, p.112]
80
Billboard
This is hip-hop for another era, one that makes the present day commercial U.S. material seem even more flat than it already is.
70
Rolling Stone
These are Rascal's most accessible beats to date. [30 Sep 2004, p.186]
58
Entertainment Weekly
These barren videogame shoot-out beats and textures don't do him justice. [17 Sep 2004, p.76]
50
Dusted Magazine
Showtime’s length dilutes the bursts of exotic spice and flavor laced throughout.
The average user rating for this album is 8.5 (out of 10) based on 20 User Votes
Note: User votes are NOT included in the Metascore calculation.
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