The Streets hit both a wave of critical and commercial popularity that resulted in its shortlisting for the 2002 Mercury Prize (an award given to the "best" album from the UK and Ireland). That particular year's award is notable for the number of debut album's nominated. The Bees, The Coral, and The Electric Soft Parade were a few of the bands celebrated, but the award went to A Little Deeper, the debut album of British hip-hob/R&B artist Ms. Dynamite.
Ms. Dynamite started as a featured artist working with British garage acts DJ Sticky and So Solid Crew in 2001. This didn't last long as her talents quickly attracted the notice of Polydor Records. As soon as 2002, she released three singles (with two in the UK Top 10 and all three in the Top 20) and her debut album (which peaked at 10, going platinum).
The album features tight production and carefully mixes in Dynamite's hard raps with her smooth R&B vocals. There is a sociopolitical and feminist consciousness to her lyrics. She raps about growing up in British ghettos, refraining from abusing drugs, and breaking off bad relationships with abusive others (no matter the situation). She drops single lines about African blood diamonds and lightly touches on racist attitudes, but she does tone down the politics on her softer songs. The album, essentially, begins with urgent messages and calls to action and moves inward to more personal songs. It starts hard and fast and ends softly. A Little Deeper garnered favorable reviews with its greatest praise coming in the form of the Mercury Prize.
Here is the discography surrounding Ms. Dynamite's debut album:
It Takes More (2002 single)
A Little Deeper
Dy-Na-Mi-Tee (2002 single)
Put Him Out (2002 single)
"Dy-Na-Mi-Tee" by Ms. Dynamite
If you have any ideas for where the tour should go next, please give a shout. I'm open to whatever as long as the artists are historically related in some way and go in an artist's chronological order.
Pass the Headphones!!
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