Brit hip-hopper getting rave reviews in U.S.

In his native Britain, Dizzee Rascal is one of the biggest names in hip-hop. At the recent Prince’s Trust concert in London, for example, the 19-year-old performer was one of the main draws on a bill that included his idol, Jay-Z, as well as Beyonce, Alicia Keys and the Streets.

Here in the U.S., however, Dizzee means diddly. But that soon may change.

His album “Boy in da Corner,” which beat out Radiohead and Coldplay for Britain’s prestigious Mercury Prize, drew immediate critical raves when it was released stateside in January — even though most reviewers admitted not being able to decipher Dizzee’s heavily accented street slang.

“It’s really surprising that they’re so receptive,” says Dizzee over the phone from London. “America is the home of hip-hop, so they don’t have to accept anything coming from across the water.”

On “Boy in da Corner,” which has sold more than 200,000 copies in England, Dizzee (born Dylan Mills) describes his impoverished upbringing as an only child raised by his mother on the mean streets of a London “council estate,” or housing project in U.S. parlance.

But what separates Dizzee’s disc from other hip-hop records is the way he splices together all kinds of abrasive, clanging, honking, synthetic sounds, flinging them atop congealing synth rhythms.

It’s rough going for tender ears used to at least a hint of melody. In fact, one British writer recently compared listening to “Boy in da Corner” to “having your face battered with a shovel.”

Dizzee points out that in Britain there are many more flavors to hip-hop than in America.

“Hip-hop is separated into many different (categories),” he says. “There’s techno, drum and bass — that’s my favorite — indie club. It’s quite varied.”

Dizzee says his music “bridges the gap. I’m not makin’ nothin’ specific. I’m just experimenting. To me, rhythm is everything. It’s me playing with sound. It all comes together — drum and bass, hip-hop, techno, some even say punk.”

The British music press already has a label for this raw music that blends American rap and Jamaican dancehall and runs it through Britain’s rave scene: “grime.”

But Dizzee is disdainful of the label.

“That’s the best name that they can come up with?” he sneers. “I would never be able to categorize what I do. My beats are kinda sparse, harsh-sounding, kinda dark. I come off the drum and bass, the dark end of garage. …

“Grime is a name that has come up in the past couple of months, along with Eski and Sub Low. But it’s all the same people (making the music), and all the same ravers (listening to the music). Personally, I’m always going to be making different sounds.”

And when Dizzee lists who he admires musically, you believe him.

Jay-Z is No. 1 in his book. “You can really sense his life in his music,” says Dizzee. “Listen to his albums all the way through. He gives it all. I don’t know many rappers in his league, Tupac and Biggie maybe. But he’s the rapper’s rapper. He paints pictures with his words.”

And though Dizzee gives major props to hip-hop artists including the Streets, Ludacris, UGK, Pharrell Williams of the Neptunes and Timabaland, he does the same for rockers — namely, Nirvana, Korn, Rage Against the Machine and Soundgarden.

An even more surprising selection is the late Eva Cassidy, whom Dizzee called “fabulous.”

On “Boy in da Corner,” Dizzee allows the occasional ray of tough-minded optimism to peek through. He points to the enticing “Brand New Day.”

“It’s really about hope,” he says. “It’s uplifting. It starts off depressed, but hope can get you through. A lot of MCs are not (talking) about that, just bling.”