Well deserved Mercury-winning debut.
Matthew Lee | United States | 12/08/2002
(5 out of 5 stars)
"Before you get this CD, check her debut appearance on the charts on Sticky's 2001 tune "Booo!" That'll give you a sense of Ms. Dynamite's natural verbal artillery and ferocity. This 2002 debut was pretty remarkable for a year when UK garage made more inroads in the US (e.g. Daniel Bedingfield, The Streets), but believe me, one listen to this CD and it's pure London. The horns and beats on the my name is track "Dy Na Mi Tee" brings up imagery like getting your teeth knocked out by the drunken sot by the Camden Town tube stop, while the tight single "Put Him Out" does TLC's '99 "No Scrubs" all ragga style. Her vocal style is somewhere between Lady Saw and Kelly Rowland, but it's the match with each track's rhythm, whether it's syncopated or more drawn out, that makes this CD a genius purchase. Rumors of duets with Eminem & Robbie speak to how much other artists rate her work. She even beat out the Doves for a Mercury!"
Not bad but not excellent
z. Dolli. o | Los Angeles, CA USA | 02/10/2003
(3 out of 5 stars)
"I was a little dissappointed when I listened to this album. Knowing that it won the Mercury Prize, a prize given to some of my favorites like Portishead and Tricky, I expected a really groundbreaking album. I was let down. While Ms. Dynamite is a cut above the average pop female singer/songwriters out right now, this album is a little overrated. I thought that she had a lot of good things to say but the delivery after a while got VERY boring. There are only two tracks on this album that I thought were really good and the rest is average monotonous R&B from a mediocre vocalist."
Track Listings (18) - Disc #1