Boy in da Corner

Elbowing free of UK garage’s shiny-shirted glitz, Dylan Mills carved his own uncompromising lane—and gave grime a totemic masterwork—with his Mercury Prize-winning debut. But, as per the rock-sampling splendour of “Fix Up, Look Sharp”, Dizzee, ultimately, really is sweet like Tropicana. Beyond those skeletal self-made beats and brooding “come at me” bars (“Hold Ya Mouf”), <i>Boy in da Corner</i> is a triumph of precocious wisdom (“I Luv U”) and unexpected pop savvy.