Tongue n' Cheek is the fourth studio album by British rapper Dizzee Rascal. The album was released on 20 September 2009[2] and includes the number one singles, "Dance wiv Me", "Bonkers", "Holiday" and "Dirtee Disco". It has been certified platinum by the BPI for sales of over 300,000, making it the best-selling album of Rascal's career.

Tongue n' Cheek
Studio album by
Released20 September 2009
Recorded2008–2009
Genre
Length41:32
Label
Producer
Dizzee Rascal chronology
Maths + English
(2007)
Tongue n' Cheek
(2009)
The Fifth
(2013)
Singles from Tongue n' Cheek
  1. "Dance wiv Me"
    Released: 30 June 2008
  2. "Bonkers"
    Released: 17 May 2009
  3. "Holiday"
    Released: 23 August 2009
  4. "Dirtee Cash"
    Released: 21 September 2009
  5. "You Got the Dirtee Love"
    Released: 17 February 2010
  6. "Dirtee Disco"
    Released: 23 May 2010

Background

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Its release was announced on Friday Night with Jonathan Ross when, in an interview, Rascal revealed details including track information and production. He confirmed in an interview on Radio 1 that he is leaving his grime roots behind, in favour of more mainstream pop music.[3] On 23 May 2009, Calvin Harris revealed on his Twitter that he was producing a Dizzee track. At the Evolution Festival in Newcastle-upon-Tyne, he confirmed that there will be two new singles from the album called "Road Rage" and "Dirtee Cash". Dirtee Cash heavily samples The Adventures of Stevie V song "Dirty Cash.".[4] Samples are also used on "Can't Tek No More" ("Warrior's Charge" by Aswad from the film Babylon) and "Chillin' Wiv da Man Dem" ("Oh Honey" by Delegation).

In early August the track listing was confirmed in a preview of the album by music website NME.

Notably, Rascal designed a Nike-distributed Tongue n' Cheek shoe, to be in released at the same time as the album. The proceeds from these shoes going to Tower Hamlets Summer University of which Rascal is a patron.[5]

Release and chart performance

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On 27 September 2009, Tongue n' Cheek entered the UK Albums Chart at number 3, charting behind Muse's The Resistance and Madonna's Celebration.[6]

Critical reception

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Professional ratings
Aggregate scores
SourceRating
Metacritic75/100[7]
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic     [8]
Drowned in Sound6/10[9]
The Guardian     [10]
musicOMH     [11]
NME7/10[12]
Pitchfork7.5/10[13]
PopMatters8/10[14]
Slant Magazine     [15]
The Telegraph     [16]
The Times     [17]

Tongue n' Cheek received positive reviews from music critics. At Metacritic, which assigns a normalised rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream critics, the album received an average score of 75 based on 14 reviews, which indicates "generally favorable reviews". The Guardian gave the album 4 out of 5 stars, opining: "If it's less wilfully uncommercial than his earlier oeuvre, which frequently made the listener feel like they were being mugged in the middle of an amusement arcade, its distorted synthesisers are still edgily thrilling".[10] Pitchfork's Ian Cohen gave the album 7.5/10, saying that "He sounds damn good over trashy, flashy electro that manages to keep pace with cadences as hyperactive as his own, and, above all, he's way more fun than he's often given credit for".[13]

NME gave the album 7/10 and wrote that "The beats on Tongue N' Cheek are still raw, clamorous and unpredictable, but in a springy, primary-coloured way".[12] Q magazine gave it a favourable review, saying "It's been a long time coming, but Brit-rap's first genuinely huge album is here". musicOMH gave it 4 out of 5 stars and wrote: "There's a party to be had and Dizzee's in charge, but don't forget to engage your brain for at least some of it".[11] Observer Music Monthly gave it 4 out of 5 stars, writing: "It unquestionably adds up to a pop record sharp enough to be the bratty but irresistible younger brother of Lily Allen's "It's Not Me, It's You". RapReviews gave the album 8.5/10 and judged: "All in all, Dizzee hasn't gone all out to make an artistic masterpiece, but it doesn't make the slightest bit of difference".[18]

Track listing

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All lyrics are written by Dizzee Rascal

Tongue n' Cheek[19]
No.TitleProducerLength
1."Bonkers" (with Armand Van Helden)Armand Van Helden2:57
2."Road Rage" (featuring Chrome)
3:14
3."Dance wiv Me" (featuring Calvin Harris and Chrome)Calvin Harris3:24
4."Freaky Freaky"Cage3:42
5."Can't Tek No More" (with Shy FX)Shy FX3:28
6."Chillin' wiv da Man Dem"Cage4:39
7."Dirtee Cash"Cage4:21
8."Money, Money"3:23
9."Leisure"4:13
10."Holiday" (featuring Chrome)Calvin Harris3:40
11."Bad Behaviour" (with Tiësto)4:31
Total length:41:32
  • A bonus disc entitled "Foot n' Mouth"[20] comes free with the album when purchased from HMV. It contains a single track of 27:54 containing a Dirtee Stank podcast with the following contents:
Bonus disc: Foot n' Mouth (HMV exclusive bonus disc)
No.TitleLength
1."Introduction" 
2."DJ Semtex and Dizzee Rascal" (skit) 
3."Butterfly" (snippet) 
4."Holiday" (snippet, featuring Chrome) 
5."Dance wiv Me" (snippet, featuring Calvin Harris and Chrome) 
6."Bonkers" (snippet, with Armand Van Helden) 
7."DJ Semtex interviews Newham Generals" (Newham Generals, skit) 
8."Hard" (Newham Generals, snippet) 
9."Mind is a Gun" (Newham Generals, snippet) 
10."DJ Semtex interviews Smurfie Syco" 
11."Laugh" (Smurfie Syco) 
12."Dizzee Rascal talks about forthcoming Dirtee Stank project 'Manic Music'" 
13."Warrior Within" (featuring D Double E and Footsie) 
14."Dizze Rascal, D Double E, Footsie and Smurfie Syco" (freestyle) 
  • Dirtee deluxe edition: An expanded version of the album was released in 2010 to celebrate the album going platinum.
Dirtee deluxe edition
No.TitleWriter(s)Length
1."Dirtee Disco" (featuring Daniel Pearce)
  • Dizzee Rascal
  • Armand Van Helden
3:58
2."Nuffin' Long" 4:07
3."Marks Outta Ten" 3:55
4."Heavy" (Chase & Status vs. Dizzee Rascal) 3:35
5."Doin' It Big" 4:05
6."You Got the Dirtee Love" (Recorded live at the 2010 BRIT Awards with Florence Welch) 3:38
7."Brand New Day" (Recorded live at the BBC Electric Proms 2009) 4:52
8."Fix Up Look Sharp" (Recorded live at the BBC Electric Proms 2009) 5:47
9."Bonkers" (Remixed by Doorly) 4:32
10."Holiday" (Remixed by Laidback Luke) 7:10

Charts

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Certifications

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Country Provider Certification Sales
United Kingdom BPI Platinum 300,000[28]

References

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  1. ^ Doran, John (2009). "BBC - Music - Review of Dizzee Rascal - Tongue N' Cheek". BBC. Retrieved 18 November 2017.
  2. ^ Dizzee Rascal - Tongue n' Cheek. iTunes.
  3. ^ Dizzee Rascal leaves grime behind. Orange. Retrieved Sunday, 25 September 2011.
  4. ^ Dirty Cash Songfacts. www.songfacts.com.
  5. ^ Millar, Jamie. GQ Interview - Dizzee Rascal Archived 1 April 2012 at the Wayback Machine. GQ. Monday, 21 September 2009. Retrieved Sunday, 25 September 2011.
  6. ^ a b "Official Albums Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 2 May 2019.
  7. ^ "Reviews for Tongue N' Cheek by Dizzee Rascal". Metacritic. Retrieved 8 March 2015.
  8. ^ Jon O'Brien. "Tongue N' Cheek – Dizzee Rascal – Songs, Reviews, Credits, Awards – AllMusic". AllMusic. Retrieved 8 March 2015.
  9. ^ "Album Review: Dizzee Rascal – Tongue 'N' Cheek". DrownedInSound. Archived from the original on 13 July 2019. Retrieved 8 March 2015.
  10. ^ a b Petridis, Alexis (18 September 2009). "Dizzee Rascal: Tongue'N'Cheek". The Guardian. London.
  11. ^ a b http://www.musicomh.com/albums/dizzee-rascal-3_0909.htm [dead link]
  12. ^ a b "NME Reviews – Album review: Dizzee Rascal – 'Tongue N' Cheek (Dirtee Stank) – NME.COM". NME. 21 September 2009. Retrieved 8 March 2015.
  13. ^ a b "Dizzee Rascal". ]Pitchfork. Retrieved 8 March 2015.
  14. ^ "Dizzee Rascal". PopMatters. Retrieved 8 March 2015.
  15. ^ Eric Henderson (9 November 2009). "Dizzee Rascal: Tongue N' Cheek – Album Review – Slant Magazine". Slant Magazine. Retrieved 8 March 2015.
  16. ^ de Wilde, Gervase (17 September 2009). "Dizzee Rascal: Tongue N' Cheek, Pop CD of the week". The Daily Telegraph. London.
  17. ^ Asthana, Anushka. "Tongue n' Cheek". The Times. London.[dead link]
  18. ^ "Dizzee Rascal :: Tongue N'Cheek :: Dirtee Stank". Retrieved 8 March 2015.
  19. ^ "Tongue N' Cheek [Explicit]: Dizzee Rascal: Amazon.co.uk: MP3 Downloads". Amazon.co.uk. Retrieved 25 December 2010.
  20. ^ "Dizzee Rascal: Tongue N Cheek (2009): CD". hmv.com. Retrieved 25 December 2010.
  21. ^ "Australiancharts.com – Dizzee Rascal – Tongue n' Cheek". Hung Medien. Retrieved 2 May 2019.
  22. ^ "Ultratop.be – Dizzee Rascal – Tongue n' Cheek" (in Dutch). Hung Medien. Retrieved 2 May 2019.
  23. ^ "Irish-charts.com – Discography Dizzee Rascal". Hung Medien. Retrieved 2 May 2019.
  24. ^ "Charts.nz – Dizzee Rascal – Tongue n' Cheek". Hung Medien. Retrieved 2 May 2019.
  25. ^ "Official R&B Albums Chart Top 40". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 2 May 2019.
  26. ^ "End of Year Album Chart Top 100 – 2009". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 4 May 2021.
  27. ^ "End of Year Album Chart Top 100 – 2010". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 4 May 2021.
  28. ^ UK. "New Nation Single Review - Sep 2008 Photos from Ironik (Ironik) on Myspace". Viewmorepics.myspace.com. Archived from the original on 11 September 2009. Retrieved 25 December 2010.