Showtime

'Showtime' is the second album from 2003's Mercury Music Prize winner Dizzee Rascal. Continuing with the 'grime' UK hip hop sound that dominated his debut, Dizzee lays down tales of urban living over quirky bass driven hip hop beats. The first single to be taken from the album 'Stand Up Tall' is also included.

Rolling Stone (p.186)
- 3 1/2 stars out of 5 - "SHOWTIME finds Rascal molting off some of his debut's hard shell with cleaner sounds and clearer verses."

Spin (pp.107-8)
- "[P]uffy with bluster, brimming with indignation..." - Grade: A-

Spin (p.66)
- Ranked #11 in Spin's "40 Best Albums of the Year" - "SHOWTIME's real emotional core is a classic new-wave paradox..."

Q (p.112)
- 4 stars out of 5 - "[S]ardonic, belligerent, quirky....[It] teems with exotic noises, odd rhythmic loops and unexpected shifts in mood."

Mojo (p.104)
- 5 stars out of 5 - "What Dizzee Rascal has done with this record is find his own - profoundly satisfying - balance between grime's digital vortex of ring-tones and car alarms and an older more contemplative electronic tradition."

Uncut (p.97)
- 4 stars out of 5 - "SHOWTIME sounds incredible. With his arresting style of mutant grime-pop, Mills dazzles on every track....SHOWTIME proves Dizzee's capable of anything."

Uncut (p.75)
- Ranked #18 in Uncut's "Best New Albums of 2004" - "[W]ith his arresting style of mutant grime-pop....Complemented by an instinctive feel for melody and arrangement."

Alternative Press (p.114)
- "He fleshes out his futuristic garage beats with more melody and glitchy hooks, but it's the urgency of the 20-year-old Londoner's brash Brit patois that dares you not to decipher it." - 5 out of 5

Vibe (p.162)
- "[He] takes the spotlight on his second go-round by stirring robotic rhythms into a perfect blend..."