Lethal Bizzle - Back to Biznizz

This starts off on familiar ground - Mr revisits a similar grime beat and lyrical territory to Bizzle's underground anthem Pow. Moving on to Bizzle Bizzle however, we are confronted with his new template for grime, featuring clashing rock drums and lunatic, distorted bass, in service to a needlessly catchy pop hook, his own name, chanted by some sort of high-pitched Space Invader: "Bizzle, Bizzle..." It's sheer madness, but totally addictive, one of the most jump-up grime cuts since Dizzee's Stand Up Tall. This is followed immediately by Akira The Don producing a mashed-up cover of Babylon's Burning The Ghetto by The Ruts. Bizzle's highly-charged political rap is bound to strike a chord with 'ver kids: "Labour Party's full of shit / Cameron's a fucking arse." As a change from Dizzee's playschool bragging and Wiley's retirement schtick, Bizzle starts to look like the one to watch. Then he drops Boy, featuring Babyshambles, another punked-up stomp which completely defies genre categorisation. The rest of the album is no different, taking on 80s electro, shambolic indie, and jump-up punk. Okay, so Dizzee's LP was a step forward for UK hip-hop, and Wiley's was classic grime. Bizzarely, Bizzle has dropped an amazing rock album. Major props, but... what the hell? More please! [Bram Gieben]