It’s always a shame when innate musical talent is overlooked for the fact that the talent in question behave like a trio of asbo-hungry hyenas in tracksuits, but it is for this very reason I have always been supportive of this North London born and bred threesome – they are as real as it gets and understand their target market to the point where they settle for nothing less than doing it one hundred per cent the N Dubz way.
It’s a shame then that third studio album titled Love.Live.Life has the blatant fingerprints of string-tugging record execs all over it, with an annoying insistence on having fun obviously playing on the album’s title and an increasingly prominent role for what the new bosses have clearly deemed to be the key to N Dubz growing success outside of the UK – Tulisa Contostavlos. The latter point is not really a problem; Tulisa’s vocals are stronger than ever before and she still has that raspy conviction that makes every 'bad girl' wish they could be her, but what always complimented her performances so well were the blisteringly raw raps from cousin Dappy (definitely overlooked for the Game Over original – and remix!) and the perfectly crafted and suited production from best buddy Fazer (he only produces three or four songs). That means the boys’ contributions are noticeably constricted on an album where the boy vs. girl theme has been abandoned, and at times it feels as though they’re merely the set-up for Tulisa to swoon and swagger about. Dappy does at points gets his own time to shine and shine he does, and although Fazer has always been dynamite behind the boards he is not so much in the booth, and where he does rap on Love.Live.Life still leaves something to be desired, apart from the bit about “going to the Gucci store dressed in rags/security think that I ain’t gonna buy shit/ then I pull out my card and swipe it/ bowl out with 20 bags”. Pure G-enius. Production is instead handled by Salaam Remi, Jean Baptiste Kouame, Jim Jonsin (Amy Winehouse, Black Eyed Peas, Beyonce) who provide boisterous club beats for N Dubz’s brash and shouty third charm.
The Bone Thugs-esque intro is soothing to the point you wish it was its own track, but instead preludes the entirely stellar first single “Best Behaviour”, in which the boys and girl croon and rap about the idea of settling down with a significant other, having had enough of their crazy touring lifestyle. Dappy proves as he has done before that his unorthodox singing voice can work well alongside his cousin’s divaish tones and the boy deserves respect for applying himself in that way when he could easily get away with just the fire flows we have come to expect from him. “Took It All Away” has a somewhat infectious bridge and hook, and the hard guitar riffs are a pleasant addition to a good production. “Living For The Moment” is good, but includes the annoying lyric “life’s a bitch and then you die, if you don’t care then why should I”, which just sounds stupid. The album’s title track is a different attempt from the trio at a club track, all about loving life, and it works well in its own repetitious way. “Scream My Name” is about the band’s self-perceived omnipresence amongst its legions of fans, catchy enough but annoyingly citing YouTube, Ustream and Twitter in its chorus. “Love Sick” sees Tulisa in solo mode, and she is very good indeed. "Toot It And Boot It" is the most Americanized track on the album, featuring southern rapper YG and Dappy. It feels like something a frantic A&R man organized at the last minute when the real guest appearance fell through. I mean really, they had Mr. Hudson on their last album, that’s one away from Kanye West. The next track "Skit" is a scorching attack on an anonymous rival from Dappy and frequent collaborator Fearless, who shone on the similarly fast-paced, aggressive ‘Duku Man skit’ on the last album. The two trade fast and ferocious disses on some poor chap and there a few quotables you’ll have to listen out for. "So Alive" features fellow north Londoner and underground favourite Skepta and is one of the stronger tracks on the album, a dark and bouncy number with haunting echoes complimenting the boys’ quick fire raps. The second single "Girls" is pretty much your standard ‘beautiful girls’ fare, ready made for Americans, and which probably sounds better with the accompanying music video. "Cold Shoulder" is the album’s same old formula, and "Morning Star" is the same but to far better effect, with Dappy doing his singing thing and Tulisa knocking it out of the park. To wrap it up, suitably, we get the "Outro", not dissimilar from the "Intro", in fact pretty much the exact same thing; a nice soothing bit of harmonizing and speedy uppy bars. Again, should’ve been an actual track.
It’s good to see Dappy, Fazer and Tulisa relishing in their hard-earned success and I accept that artists and their music must evolve. However one has to wonder whether this commercial crusade into America has changed the attitudes of a band hellbent on integrity and sticking true to their roots. It’s fair to note that despite the absence of phrases such as “you get me blud” and “you seerio for foreeli tho”, and the telling references to Mariah Carey, Michael Jackson, Elvis and Lil’ Wayne, the Britishness is still there, as are Dappy's "Na-Na-Niiiiis", and there is sufficient enthusiasm and flashes of the old N Dubz magic scattered around the album for the their massive fan base to still enjoy.
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