Less than a year after releasing a 20th anniversary edition of his Mercury Prize-winning, genre-defining debut, Boy in da Corner, grime pioneer Dizzee Rascal initiated his Big Dirte3 imprint with Dont Take It Personal, his eighth studio album. 2017s menacing Raskit and 2020s more streamlined E3 AF marked Dizzees return to harder-edged rap after straying into dance-pop territory, resulting in some of his most commercially successful material (Tongue n Cheek spawned four U.K. number one singles) but a nadir in terms of artistic quality. Having regained his focus, hes returned to making upbeat material, drawing far more from U.K. garage and funky house than drill or trap, but avoiding the chart-baiting, ill-fitting features from pop stars and predictable samples that marred his more commercial-minded work. On opening tracks "Stay in Your Lane" and "How Did I Get So Calm," Dizzee reflects on the path his life has taken, while providing a motivational message stressing the importance of perseverance. The tracks feature brisk, shuffling two-step beats and smooth guitars, but they still have angular basslines and ravey bleeps which make it clear that Dizzee hasnt abandoned the abrasiveness of early grime and garage. "Sugar and Spice" features production duo iLL BLU, also returning to garage after embracing U.K. drill, and it successfully incorporates Dizzees swift rhymes into sweet R&B harmonies and gliding beats. The jet-setting love song "Roll Wit Me" smoothly dips into Afroswing, and it works well, but its one of the rare moments that this intense, riveting album chills out, along with the more atmospheric and tender "Here for Now." "What You Know About That" provides hard grime for the gym, with help from scene stalwarts Jme and D Double E, and "Get Out the Way" (featuring BackRoad Gee) shows how naturally Dizzees off-the-wall rhyming style adapts to stark, clanging drill. The albums most curiously introspective moment, placed right in the middle of the track listing, is "You Can Have Dat," in which Dizzee begs a former partner for custody of his children. The remainder of the record returns to hyped-up garage and grime with nasty basslines, from party-ready tracks like "Switch and Explode" to more aggressive boasts such as "Keep That Same Energy." Like Dizzees previous two efforts, Dont Take It Personal feels like the work of an older, more experienced rapper who still wants to push things forward, and he sounds like hes having more fun than he has in a while. ~ Paul Simpson

Rovi