Boy in da Corner explained

Boy in da Corner
Type:studio
Artist:Dizzee Rascal
Cover:Dizee Rascal Album Boy in da Corner.jpg
Border:yes
Recorded:October 2001–March 2003
Studio:Belly of the Beast, Raskits Lair (London, England)
Genre:Grime
Label:XL
Prev Title:Sidewinder Live
Prev Year:2002
Next Title:Showtime
Next Year:2004

Boy in da Corner is the debut studio album by English rapper and producer Dizzee Rascal. It was first released on 21 July 2003 by XL Recordings in the United Kingdom before being released the following year in the United States.

A widespread critical success, Boy in da Corner became one of the most acclaimed records of 2003 and went on to win the Mercury Prize for best album from the UK and Ireland. It also peaked at number 23 on the British albums chart and sold over 250,000 copies worldwide by 2004. With the album's success, Dizzee Rascal gave mainstream exposure to grime music while becoming the UK's first internationally recognised emcee.

Background

Around the age of 14, Dizzee Rascal became an amateur drum and bass DJ, also rapping over tracks as customary in sound system culture, and making occasional appearances on local pirate radio stations.[1] Two years on, aged 16, he self-produced his first single, "I Luv U", which was included on his debut.[2] The same year, Rascal signed a solo deal with the record label XL.[3]

Critical reception

Boy in da Corner received widespread acclaim from critics. At Metacritic, the album received an aggregate score of 92 out of 100, based on 28 reviews.[4] NME called it "one of the most assured debut albums of the last five years". Entertainment Weekly stated that, "Combining U.K. garage beats and a distinctly British sensibility, Rascal spits out phrases with the energy and finesse of a championship boxer". Rolling Stone wrote, "If you want a vision of the future of hip-hop and techno, get this record". AllMusic called it "Startling, tirelessly powerful, and full of unlimited dimensions, nothing could truly weigh down this debut". Pitchforks Scott Plagenhoef stated, "Dizzee's despairing wail, focused anger, and cutting sonics places him on the front lines in the battle against a stultifying Britain, just as Pete Townshend, Johnny Rotten, and Morrissey have been in the past". In The Village Voice, Robert Christgau wrote that "His adolescent gulps and yowls are street-Brit with a Jamaican liquidity, as lean, eccentric, and arresting as the beats." Fellow Village Voice critic Jeff Chang stated, "When Dizzee thinks very deeply—worrying about growing up, about those around him who won't grow up, about dying before he grows up—he sounds like, what else can we call it, the real thing".[5] Stylus Magazine stated, "Most of Boy in Da Corner's most compelling moments come from this uneasy interaction between irrational youth and ultra-rational mechanized society".[6] Alexis Petridis from The Guardian called Dizzee "the most original and exciting artist to emerge from dance music in a decade".

Boy in da Corner won Dizzee Rascal the 2003 Mercury Prize, an annual music award for the best album from the United Kingdom and Ireland, making him the second rapper to win the award.[7] In 2009, it was voted the sixth greatest album of all time by MTV Base.[8] The album was included in the book 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die.[9] According to B.J. Steiner from Complex, "Boy in Da Corner brought grime—an influential subgenre of hip-hop birthed from the endless creativity of a bunch of kids from the United Kingdom—to the rest of the world and made a young Dizzee Rascal, his country's first international rap superstar."[10]

Commercial performance

Boy in da Corner was released on 21 July 2003 in the United Kingdom by XL Recordings and 20 January 2004 in the United States by Matador Records.[11] It reached number twenty-three on the UK Albums Chart[12] and was certified gold by the British Phonographic Industry (BPI), having shipped 100,000 copies there.[13] By 2004, it had sold over 250,000 copies worldwide,[14] and over 58,000 copies in the US by 2007.[15] The album was certified Platinum (300,000 copies) in July 2018, 15 years after its release, making it Dizzee's second Platinum selling album after Tongue n' Cheek.[16]

Legacy

In 2016, Dizzee Rascal performed Boy in da Corner in full for the first time first in New York and then in east London at the Copper Box Arena.[17] [18] Contemporary critics praised the album's continuing influence on grime and ageless sound.[19] [20] In late 2016, a bootleg fan mixtape of rare recordings from the Boy in Da Corner era called Left in da Corner was released.[21]

On 21 July 2023 XL Recordings released the 20th Anniversary Edition of the album, featuring 14 previously unreleased songs.[22]

Track listing

All tracks were produced by Dizzee Rascal, except where noted.

Notes

Sample credits

Personnel

The album's credits are adapted from AllMusic.[23]

Charts

Year-end charts

Notes and References

  1. Web site: DJ Vlad. Dizzee Rascal on Growing up in the Projects & Raw Gun Culture in the U.K.. . 17 March 2016. https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211221/l3hugcCt6b0 . 2021-12-21 . live. 10 August 2016.
  2. News: Dizzee Rascal: You Ask The Questions. The Independent. London. 12 August 2004. 8 May 2009. https://web.archive.org/web/20090823002050/http://www.independent.co.uk/news/people/profiles/dizzee-rascal-you-ask-the-questions-556269.html. 23 August 2009. live.
  3. News: Garage star stabbed in Cyprus. BBC News. 8 July 2003. 8 May 2009. https://web.archive.org/web/20090512160847/http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/music/3055770.stm. 12 May 2009. live.
  4. Web site: Reviews for Boy in Da Corner by Dizzee Rascal. Metacritic. 3 May 2011. https://web.archive.org/web/20120729050226/http://www.metacritic.com/music/boy-in-da-corner/dizzee-rascal. 29 July 2012. live.
  5. News: Chang. Jeff. 13 January 2004. Future Shock. The Village Voice. 3 May 2011. https://web.archive.org/web/20101017224622/http://www.villagevoice.com/2004-01-13/music/future-shock/1/. 17 October 2010. live.
  6. Web site: Mueller. Gavin. 1 September 2003. Dizzee Rascal – Boy in Da Corner – Review. Stylus Magazine. 3 May 2011. dead. https://web.archive.org/web/20110630202221/http://stylusmagazine.com/reviews/dizzee-rascal/boy-in-da-corner.htm. 30 June 2011.
  7. Web site: Rapper Rascal wins Mercury Prize. BBC News. 9 September 2003. 3 May 2011. https://web.archive.org/web/20080919181134/http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/music/3092520.stm. 19 September 2008. live.
  8. Web site: MTV Base – Greatest Albums Ever. MTV. 3 May 2011. dead. https://web.archive.org/web/20090310042354/http://www.mtv.co.uk/channels/mtv-base/chart/greatest-albums-ever. 10 March 2009.
  9. Book: 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die: Revised and Updated Edition. Dimery. Robert. Universe. 2010. 978-0-789-32074-2.
  10. Steiner. B.J.. 6 May 2016. The Boy in Da Corner Grown Up: An Interview With Dizzee Rascal. Complex. 7 May 2016. https://web.archive.org/web/20160507125855/http://www.complex.com/music/2016/05/dizzee-rascal-interview-boy-in-da-corner-retrospective. 7 May 2016. live.
  11. Web site: Dizzee Rascal: The End of Garage's Beginning. 8 May 2016. PopMatters. 24 October 2003. Morris. David. https://web.archive.org/web/20160617071026/http://www.popmatters.com/feature/031024-dizzeerascal/. 17 June 2016. live.
  12. News: Thompson. Ben. Dizzee Rascal, Boy in Da Corner. The Observer. 20 June 2004. 3 May 2011. https://web.archive.org/web/20110521144213/http://observer.guardian.co.uk/omm/story/0,,1240083,00.html. 21 May 2011. live.
  13. Web site: BPI > Certified Awards Search . . 14 April 2010 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20130124005813/http://www.bpi.co.uk/certified-awards.aspx . 24 January 2013.
  14. Web site: Weiner. Jonah. 7 September 2004. Parallel Universe. The Village Voice. 3 May 2011. https://web.archive.org/web/20080704214152/http://www.villagevoice.com/music/0437,weiner,56694,22.html. 4 July 2008. live.
  15. Martens. Todd. 23 May 2007. New Dizzee Rascal Goes Digital-Only in U.S.. Billboard. 3 May 2011. https://web.archive.org/web/20140914043640/http://www.billboard.com/articles/news/1051968/new-dizzee-rascal-goes-digital-only-in-us. 14 September 2014. live.
  16. Web site: Dizzee Rascal on Instagram: "Imagine I'm just now seeing Boy in the corner went platinum last year 15 years after it was released! Big up everyone who's still listening…". Instagram. 29 March 2019. https://web.archive.org/web/20190410093725/https://www.instagram.com/p/Bt6rT5yhlAZ/. 10 April 2019. live.
  17. Web site: The Secret History of Boy in Da Corner. 6 May 2016. 13 January 2017. https://web.archive.org/web/20170116150325/http://www.okayplayer.com/news/dizzee-rascal-reveals-the-secret-history-of-boy-in-da-corner.html. 16 January 2017. live.
  18. Web site: Dizzee Rascal reminisces making his Mercury Prize winning debut album Boy in Da Corner. Eleanor. Halls. 13 January 2017. https://web.archive.org/web/20170116150855/http://www.gq-magazine.co.uk/article/dizzee-rascal-boy-in-da-corner-live. 16 January 2017. live.
  19. Web site: Dizzee Rascal: UK grime's royalty reclaims throne in New York. Kieran. Yates. 7 May 2016. The Guardian. 13 January 2017. https://web.archive.org/web/20170118063426/https://www.theguardian.com/music/2016/may/07/dizzee-rascal-boy-in-da-corner-red-bull-music-academy. 18 January 2017. live.
  20. Web site: Exclusive: The Grime Scene Talks Dizzee Rascal's 'Boy in Da Corner' In New Mini Doc. Complex UK. 13 January 2017. https://web.archive.org/web/20170116185127/http://uk.complex.com/music/2016/09/dizzee-rascal-boy-in-da-corner-mini-doc-red-bull. 16 January 2017. live.
  21. Web site: Dizzee Rascal - Left in Da Corner (Mixtape). Fourth Mason. 22 December 2016. YouTube. 13 January 2017. https://web.archive.org/web/20190505183137/https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PneCtBxbT7E. 5 May 2019. live.
  22. Web site: Boy In Da Corner 20th Anniversary Edition Vinyl . 2023-07-21 . . en.
  23. Web site: Boy in da Corner - Dizzee Rascal: Credits. AllMusic. 27 July 2011. https://web.archive.org/web/20110720041203/http://allmusic.com/album/boy-in-da-corner-r675045/credits. 20 July 2011. live.
  24. Web site: The Official UK Albums Chart 2003. UKChartsPlus. 2 April 2021. 17 April 2012. https://web.archive.org/web/20120417095422/http://www.ukchartsplus.co.uk/ChartsPlusYE2003.pdf. live.

This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article "Boy in da Corner".

Except where otherwise indicated, Everything.Explained.Today is © Copyright 2009-2024, A B Cryer, All Rights Reserved. Cookie policy.