Chipmunk: Transition - review

CChipmunk has come a long way since his debut radio appearance in 2007, clocking up top-charting UK singles, Mobo awards and public meltdowns along the way. "I've transitioned from a boy to a man," he asserts here, and his second album reveals a reflective and determined lyricist, but it's a narrative that wears thin. Transition trades the uptempo, teeny-bop grime of his 2009 debut I Am Chipmunk for polished, urban pop beats and glossy R&B choruses, courtesy of an exhaustive list of stateside vocalists, including Chris Brown, Keri Hilson and Trey Songz. It's a calculated move, priming him for international fame, but one that dilutes the cheeky, spitfire qualities that originally propelled him out of the underground. He's at his sharpest blowing raspberries at the haters and grime purists on the minimalist electro beats of Foul, sounding a little nasal but turning out some witty rhymes.