Dizzee Rascal

Despite the impassioned hyperventilations of the New York media and the nationwide blogosphere, the UK hip-hop offshoot known as grime has yet to make much of a commercial impact in the United States. Aficionados insist that the release of the excellent new Run the Road compilation may change that; the relatively tame stateside sales of the Streets’ two albums throw some water on the hype-flame. No matter the burgeoning genre’s mainstream penetration, expect young Dizzee Rascal, grime’s most identifiable personality, to keep on keeping on: Both of his tense, clever albums seem to come from a well of creativity that should deepen as he ages.