Dizzee Rascal

Mod Club Theatre, Toronto ON - February 5, 2004

BY Noel DixPublished Jan 1, 2006

After being critically hyped for months, it's no wonder a capacity crowd was anxiously awaiting this teenage MC's North American debut. His first flight overseas didn't seem to wear him out, as the jetlag-free wordsmith came out to a huge cheer, rocked bodies with his intense beats and delivery, and didn't let up. With the madness of the gigantic mutilated beats accompanied by the young lad's charm towards the Union Jack-toting crowd, you were bound have a hard time following the mass amount of verbal assaults Dizzee was running at you. Even when he dropped a mind-bending a cappella, you were left dumfounded and not entirely sure it was possible for someone to squeeze such a volume of syllables into one deep breath. Though the hip-hop assault ran like a steam engine, the beats did tire towards the end, falling into a marathon of repetitive grime. It might have just been that Dizzee's highly-charged lyrical rampage was too much for the defenceless Toronto crowd to handle, but the gifted MC made sure to leave a giant boot print at the end of the set by dropping "Fix Up, Look Sharp" to a roaring response. Those who might not have been entirely convinced that Dizzee Rascal is masterful on record are hard-pressed to deny his skills on a live mic while commanding a crowd with such ease.

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