Sort of. If you live in the U.K. a physical copy can be yours in all its hot pink glory. We're looking at a ones and zeroes-type release only on my side of the Atlantic for now.
Dizzee's third disc in four years finds our narrator playing the role of grizzled industry veteran at the tender age of 22. After making moves towards a slightly more pop-friendly sound on 2004's Showtime (at least compared to the straight doomsday nihilism of Boy in Da Corner), Maths & English is somewhat of a return to early form.
There might be a grime-goes-to-Broadway duet with Lily Allen ("Wanna Be") and chipmunk-soul-meets-jungle ode to summertime ("Da Feelin") in the mix, but the material mostly tends towards the dark side of success. There's a song named "Paranoid" -- And a gloriously profane jam named, "Suk My Dik."
Beat-wise, Diz is still grounded in grime but continues some of the exploration he played with on Showtime. He's beginning to discover groove. Standouts include "Temptation" which has Alex Turner of Arctic Monkeys on hook-singing duties and the straight-up awesome UGK collaboration, "Where Da G's?"
Time will tell if this stands up to Diz's first two cuts, but it's a promising third step. Not like he cares or anything. In his own words, "excuse me please, fuck it."
Here's the first single, "Sirens."
Maths & English is now availbale on iTunes.
