Friday 18/07/08 Dizzee Rascal @ Highline Ballroom, New York, NY

On yet another hot and sweaty night in New York City, Gigwise arrived at the Highline Ballroom to see one of the UK’s best exports – Dizzy Rascal. He was playing a far smaller venue than he would at home, but what was most confusing was that it wasn’t sold out, the venue was only 2/3rds full. Whether this is attributed to the fact that hip-hop lovers have no more room in their ears what with Lil’ Wayne taking over… well everything or that Dizzee is not as popular as he once was, we’re not sure.

With Aaron Lacrate behind the decks and plenty of hip-hop heads in attendance, Dizzee took on the New York crowd and clearly impressed them. He had a well-planned set-list, placing crowd favourites like “I Luv U”, “Jus A Rascal” and “Sirens” in between lesser-known songs. He displayed the energy of an 18 year-old boy, bounding about the stage with his hype-man and trademark high rapping voice – fitting more words into a sentence than humanly (or so we thought) possible. However, there was a little something about the performance that suggested this had become a bit routine for him, that he’d done this all before.

The second half raised the bar and brought out back-to-back hits with “Fix Up, Look Sharp”, “Stand Up Tall”, “Dance With Me”, his current number 1 UK single and “Pussyole (Old Skool)”, which included some endearing old skool dancing by Dizzee and his hype-man.

Finishing a short 45 minute set, he came back out for an encore rewarding the crowd’s incessant chanting. Bringing out legendary rappers the Sugarhill Gang with him, which was a complete surprise, greatly pleased the crowd. He finished off with “Ghetto” and along with the Sugar Hill Gang, high-fived the front row before disappearing into the back. Whether the place was full or not, the crowd in attendance seemed to love him and the feeling seemed to be mutual.