His move to the Definitive Jux label, much larger than Matador and known for turning out a steady stream of alternative hip-hop, forced his creative hand and rebranded grime into the American lexicon. The rapper's new drop, the brash Maths + English (" Phases & Stages," June 27), is Rascal's most ambitious and accessible to date. In 2005, he launched Dirtee Stank Recordings and signed fellow Brit grimers Klass A and the Newham Generals. Embellishing dub-centric clubbers and the same unbendable MC work that made Boy in da Corner stand so alone, the rapper followed his debut with 2004's Showtime (XL, Matador), a sneering stack-o-sounds that winds and spins its way through each of the Rascal's multiple adolescent influences. With grime-rap suddenly borne out of thin air, Rascal, now 22, remains the game's architect. Then a mere 18, Dizz (born Dylan Mills) threw rude-boy lyrical lashings over unabashed British drum 'n' bass beats, popping out Boy in da Corner to global acclaim.
Those down with the UK way first got hipped to East London's Dizzee Rascal in 2003, when he swiped the famed Mercury Music Prize – given each year to the writer of ye Olde Isle's best album – out from under the noses of native hard-hitters Coldplay, Radiohead, and the Darkness. Dizzee Rascal, on DirecTV, SXSW 2008 (Photo by Gary Miller)
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