Dizzy Dizz: THE TEST OF TIME

In late June of 2022 I quit my job at a local pub due to growing frustrations with management, my co-workers, and with, perhaps, life in general.  I remember rocking some tunes that morning, shlepping my way up Dogwood towards home.  Walking off the job, whether you’ve quit or been fired, is a moment with a special piquancy. What is it that keeps us putting one foot in front of the other thru the tough times?  How do we know when we’ve failed, or when we’re passing the test?


The straw tipping the scales was the fact that for the first time I had an opportunity to perform outdoors in downtown Campbell Tiver for the big Canada Day show . It made my decision a no brainer, really, also a no brainer was asking Dizzy to share the stage with me. 


I can’t exactly remember how we met to tell you the truth but after this show Dizzy hooked me up with a stopgap gig, cooking in the JJs strip club for a couple weekends until I found  another full time kitchen job.


Dizzy is a perfect example of the well-rounded hip hopper, versed in all of the core artistic practices. Starting out as a dancer, spending long nights of late digging thru long playlists filled with beats, self-recording and producing seven releases in the past four years, writing 

and singing his own original songs (yes rap is singing and to suggest otherwise is racial discrimination:-) I’ll ask him about his background in graffiti and tagging but I’m not going to publish anything incriminating.


His latest release THE TEST OF TIME is a crisp addition to Dizzy’s oeuvre, the production is his best work yet. The selection of beats from Anno Domine varies from piano and organ-heavy emo bangers to retro-sounding classic boom-bappers.


His performances blend a raw, earnest energy with attitude and humour, catchy hooks evolving naturally out of his seasoned flow. Dizzy’s bars are nigh-immaculate: tight, raspy and in-your-face. His rhymes bounce and bop effortlessly, breathlessly. His lyrics are clear, honest and direct; this emcee does not hide behind flowery verbiage, obscure references or tortured metaphors. 


—What exactly is the “test of time”? 


I wonder aloud, snapping a few pics of Dizzy looking snatched, posing next to the green felt of his pool table in a crisp fit of pastel pink.


-What’s, for example, this song about? 

It was one of the orchestral tunes, a song that hits you in the feels with all the subtlety of a husky pup.


-This song is the whole story of my kidney transplant, all the shit I went through with my health.


-Oh wow, is this a single? Are you gonna make a music video for this one?


-Nope


Wanita is Dizzy’s other half, his muse and sounding board for this latest jaun. She, too knows the true epic of a personal health crises, having braved blindness for several years.


Wanita and I are having a difficult time describing the retro beats on the new album. Some of these  baselines reek of dance mix 91, grooves  just made  for the strip club dance floor or a bedroom booty-shaking. When I try to describe them as ‘remixes’, however, she makes a face and shakes her head.


-Dizzy’s not about remixes


Fair enough! As the night rolls on, me and Dizzy shoot the shit on various topics, discussing revisionist history, religion, politics, the doctrine of discovery, and the many aspects of hip hop music and culture. I try to show him my video of a recent UAP sighting, but maybe it was just the wrong moment. He’s flipping thru beats on his phone, setting us up for a bit of a cypher, as we try to loosen up my cousin to join us trading freestyle verses back and forth.


Me and Big C are reeling (he’s giddy from the vibes and I’m probably one bong hit over the line) as we drift thru Willow Point, still frosted by a layer of crunchy snow, towards our bus home. I look at my notes and realize I’ve only written down one single quote from the horse’s mouth:


-Hip hop is a (little bit) of everything. Pop music, funk, soul, bebop, even experimental music. It’s a very omnivorous genre.


Check out THE TEST OF TIME, now streaming on Spotify, YouTube, Apple Music etc. Your party people will thank you for it.

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