Skepta: Doin' It Again - review

The formula is familiar by now: grime MC makes pop-focused album and sets course for the heart of the charts. As yet, though, Skepta hasn't had the hits of peers (and proteges) such as Dizzee, Tinchy, Tinie et al. This album suggests reasons why – both bad and good. On the one hand, there is no stand-out club anthem like Tinie's Pass Out, despite several attempts (Bad Boy coming the closest). On the other, there remain some of the unvarnished characteristics of a true grime record; stretched scansion, oafish choruses and enjoyably unlikely phrasing. "I forever hear people talking, like I don't know about streets," runs a line on Big. "Fake gangsters must think I spent my music money on chocolates and sweets." With a distinctive, authentic voice and a sharp sense of humour, Doin' It Again may not make No 1, but it ought to allow Skepta to continue palling around with P Diddy in the knowledge he's still keeping it real.