ShareDizzee Rascal performing his Raskit Tour at Rock City Nottingham on Tuesday 17th October 2017
Images and Review by Kevin Cooper
Taking a break from his twitter spat with former friend and collaborator Wiley, the London rapper, Dizzee Rascal brought his UK tour to Nottingham’s Rock City last night, and the crowd gave him a really warm welcome.
It seems such a long time ago now that a precocious and boisterous Rascal upended the shape of things in British music with his debut album, Boy In Da Corner, and with him still being a force to be reckoned with, he shows no sign of slowing down as he currently tours to promote his sixth and latest album, Raskit.
With the set roughly being divided into two halves; grime from his debut album and pop fodder collaborations produced by Calvin Harris from his latest album, it meant that some of the crowd were there for his iconic classics whilst others were there to bounce about to his chart toppers. But whatever camp they were in; the packed crowd were thoroughly entertained.
With his new album sounding more pop than all of his previous ones, some may say that he has sold out because he has made no bones about his decision to distance himself from the grime scene and its associated troubles including violence and fatalities. Proof of this was when he kicked off with Space and Ghost from the new album, before he then smashed into debut single, I Luv U.
There were lots of other thrills with What U Gonna Do? Make It Last, and Ain’t Even Gonna Lie, but it was his quick delivery on the likes of Fix Up Look Sharp, Stop Dat, and Jezebel that showed that his energy on stage is something else, as the audience went into a frenzy with Business Man and Bop ‘N’ Keep It Dippin’.
With the show passing in a deafening roar of bass and good feeling, the audience showed that they were party people as they danced along to the frankly ridiculous Bassline Junkie before he finished the main set with his collaboration with Calvin Harris, Dance Wiv Me, and fans favourite, Holiday which had the crowd singing along.
Coming back to finish with Bonkers, the hit that looked like it would eclipse everything else in Rascal’s career, his set list had proved that there has always been so much more to him than the grime that launched his career. He is an exceptional showman who uses his swollen ranks of followers to spread his messages further, regardless of what those messages may be.
