Ms. Dynamite

• Year: 2002
• Rating: 6/10
• Cat. No: 589 955-2

Track listing:

1. Natural High (Interlude)
2. Dy-Na-Mi-Tee
3. Anyway U Want It
4. Put Him Out
5. Brother
6. It Takes More
7. Sick ‘n’ Tired
8. Afraid 2 Fly
9. Watch Over Them
10. Seed Will Grow
11. Krazy Krush
12. Now U Want My Love
13. Too Experienced
14. Gotta Let You Know
15. All I Ever
16. A Little Deeper

Making her name as an forceful MC on the UK Pirate Radio scene, Ms Dynamite first appeared on the charts in late 2001 as guest vocalist on the Sticky hit, “Boo”. Stardom beckons with this, her own album, and its brace of Top 10 singles It Takes More and signature tune Dy-Na-Mi-Tee. Clearly, Ms Dynamite has something valid to say, injecting some much-needed perspective to the Urban scene’s mindset and debunking the glorified gangsta lifestyle.

She brings the kind of bold and intelligent personality to the table not seen since Neneh Cherry, without aiming quite so directly for the pop mainstream. At its best, A Little Deeper aims high and actually reaches a rarified air – witness the pointed lyric of It Takes More, and the track’s woozy, ragga-tinged groove; or the dazzling Afraid 2 Fly, which beats the Neptunes at their own game; while Dy-Na-Mi-Tee overcomes a rather annoying refrain through its intoxicatingly slow-burning vibe. Sick’n’Tired and Krazy Krush are not far behind.

Were all of the album as good as this, instant classic status would be assured, yet elsewhere A Little Deeper almost inevitably falls short. Like too many contemporary releases, it’s too long (at well over an hour), and includes too many sub-standard fillers that are mostly undistinguished soul/R&B dirges.

There’s a strong suspicion of major-label interference to the detriment of the act’s true identity. Ms Dynamite has talked of never having really thought of herself as a singer before entering the recording studio to make this album, and while she is in fact a fine vocalist in the Lauryn Hill mode, A Little Deeper too often sounds like a blatant attempt to mould the MC into the UK’s answer to Hill and her ilk. The closing five tracks, in particular, descend into derivative Fugee-like blandness, which is a shame since there is enough here to warrant investigation.

Culling the chaff could have resulted in a very fine 10 or 11-track statement.