Doin' It Again Explained

Doin' It Again
Type:	studio
Artist:	Skepta
Cover:	Skepta Doin It Again.jpg
Released:	31 January 2011
Recorded:	2010
Genre:	Grime
Length:	49:50
Prev Title:	Been There Done That
Prev Year:	2010
Next Title:	Community Payback
Next Year:	2011

Doin' It Again is the third studio album by English rapper Skepta. It features artists N-Dubz, Preeya Kalidas, Charlee Drew, Boy Better Know and Chip and was released on 31 January 2011 on Boy Better Know and All Around the World. The album's release was preceded by four singles which attained varied chart success on the UK Top 40 Singles chart throughout 2010.

Background

The album consists of 15 tracks, seven which feature artists (with one artist being uncredited) and "Hello, Good Morning" recorded by both Skepta and Diddy-Dirty Money. For the song "Big", Skepta collaborated with fellow English rapper Chipmunk. Skepta told The Sun: "Chipmunk and me were out in the West End clubbing together. I'd made 'Big' for my album with the producer S-X. I played it to Chipmunk on the way home that night when we driving back from the club together and he loved it so much that he came to my studio the next day to put in his verse down on it.". The album is presumably named after a song on Skepta's first album "Greatest Hits", which is called "Doin' It Again". Currently the album has released four singles; three which have charted in the Top 40 and one just in the Top 100 of the UK Singles Chart.

Reception

Reviews for Doin' It Again have been mixed. The Observer said "This third album is clearly a bid for international recognition, but the transition feels uncomfortable at times".^[1] The Guardian was more positive saying that Skepta had "a distinctive, authentic voice and a sharp sense of humour".^[2] However, NME were far more negative saying "this is the sound of grime destroying itself"^[3]

The track "All Over The House", which had been released in a previous version on a previous album, also caused controversy when Skepta's video was released, which contained pornographic scenes of a pair of pornstars.

Singles

• "Bad Boy" is the first single from the album; it was released on 15 March 2010 and entered at number 34 on Wednesday 17 March 2010. Then 4 days after on 21 March 2010 climbed 8 places from the mid-week chart to number 26. In the same week, it reached number 8 on the UK R&B Chart and a number 1 on the UK Indie Chart.
• "Rescue Me" is the second single from the album it was released on 27 June 2010, it entered the UK Singles Chart at number 14 - which is Skepta's highest chart position currently. The next week it slipped down to number 19. The song features Greg Timberlake who is uncredited.
• "Cross My Heart" is the third single from the album which features Preeya Kalidas. It was released on 17 October 2010 and reached number 31 on the UK Singles Chart.
• "So Alive" is the fourth single which features N-Dubz, who are credited as "vs. N-Dubz" It was released for digital download on 9 December 2010. It is to release as a single on 6 February 2011.^[4]
• "Amnesia" is the fifth single from the album. It was released for digital download on 27 February 2011.

Track listing

Notes:

• - Greg Bonnick of Agent X also featured on this track, but was not credited.^[5]
• "All Over the House" was first released on Skepta's mixtape Been There Done That in 2010, The mixtape version featured Majestic and Shorty.

Chart performance

On 6 February 2011, "Doin' It Again" entered the UK Albums Chart at number 19.

Chart (2011)	Peak position
UK Albums Chart^[6]	19
UK R&B Chart^[7]	2
UK Download Chart^[8]	7

Notes and References

1. News: Skepta: Doin' It Again – review . London . The Guardian . Killian . Fox . 30 January 2011.
2. News: Skepta: Doin' It Again - review . London . The Guardian . Paul . MacInnes . 28 January 2011.
3. Web site: NME Album Reviews - Album Review: Skepta - Doin' It Again (Boy Better Know/3 Beat) . NME. 2011-01-28 . 2012-02-14.
4. Web site: Radio1.gr UK Singles Release Dates . Radio1.gr . 2010-01-31 . 2010-01-31 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20121020105600/http://www.radio1.gr/music/forthcoming_uk_singles.htm . 20 October 2012.
5. Web site: Rescue Me by Skepta Songfacts . Songfacts.com . 2012-02-14.
6. Web site: Radio 1 - Chart - The Official UK Top 40 Albums Chart . BBC . 2007-02-24 . 2012-02-14.
7. Web site: R&B Albums Top 40 - 18th February 2012 . Official Charts . 2012-02-14 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20110101153102/http://www.theofficialcharts.com/r-and-b-albums-chart/ . 1 January 2011.
8. Web site: UK Album Downloads Top 40 - 18th February 2012 . Official Charts . 2012-02-14 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20111011164109/http://www.theofficialcharts.com/album-download-chart/ . 11 October 2011.