All it took was Dizzee Rascal to start experimenting with
the likes of Calvin Harris and Armand Van Helden and Dizzee’s
already-overwhelming success skyrocketed, making Mr Rascal one of the most
sought after emcees on the planet (He is even currently working with actor
James Corden to re-make ‘Shout’ by Tears for Fears).

This lead to the release of his fourth album, ‘Tongue-N-Cheek,’
his most successful LP to date, sporting the massive hits ‘Bonkers’ and ‘Dance
Wiv Me.’ Fans of Dizzee pre-dance-crossover-superstar may have expected to be
underwhelmed by Tongue-N-Cheek and fears that Dizzee had ‘sold out’ must have
been pretty high. However, the LP includes enough of the old Dizzee to satisfy
all his fans (in particular, the awesomely aggressive ‘Road Rage’). In
conclusion, the album is solid and well worth the purchase.

Now it’s been re-released; the new bundle comes with a
second disc which includes nine tracks which are a mix of new material and live
recordings. The purpose of this review is too judge whether or not the new
material justifies a purchase of the re-release. Does it? ‘F**k yeah’

Single ‘Dirtee Disco’ opens the new disc, and whilst it
reeks of cheesiness it succeeds at providing the same care-free feeling that
made ‘Dance Wiv Me’ so popular. The other new tracks stay consistent with
Dizzee’s new obsession with house-influenced rap (good house-influenced rap
though!);  And then you have a live
recorded of Dizzee’s fantastic performance with Florence & the machine ‘You’ve
got the dirtee love,’ a performance which could have easily been a disaster,
but the two brilliant artists succeeded in blending their respective hits into
an enjoyable display of rhythm and soul.

The other live recordings of classic Dizzee songs ‘Brand new
day’ and ‘Fix up, look sharp’ are given a makeover by a talented backing band,
which makes these two recordings not just your typical live recordings thrown
onto a new CD to fill up space.

Two hard-hitting remixes of hits ‘Bonkers’ and ‘Holiday’
round up this extra disc; but what I really want to draw attention to is the
song ‘Heavy’ with UK mega-producers Chase & Status – a track which is the
hardest (and best) we have heard from Dizzee in quite some time and something which
will dispel any talk of Dizzee having ‘gone soft.’

Many re-releases end up disappointing and not providing fans
with enough new and quality material to justify a purchase; but not this.
Dizzee has given us some fine material to tide us over until his next album.
Check this out (especially the song ‘Heavy’), you will not regret it.

Review Score: 8/10

Buy the Deluxe Edition now on iTunes!