On the Klashnekoff remix of Sometimes, Kano spat "Goin' mainstream but Dange' will I ever leave? / Released Nite Nite but ever so credibly/ I do raves, youths they got respect for me" and with This Is The Girl Kano has shown that nothing changes. This is unashamedly a pop song, a message enhanced by the first huge garage-pop crossover success Craig David harmonising over the chorus.
But there is never a question of Kano compromising his grimey roots on This is The Girl as after all one of his breakthrough undergrounds was So Sure with Sadie which even gets cross referenced on Nite Nite. This Is The Girl does have an edgier feel, with a pounding beat and the subtle nods aren't towards his own previous tracks but to New York's rap stars.
Of course it's difficult to explain a grime artist fitting the lyrics "like Jude Law in Closer, relationship rollercoaster" but Kano manages it. It's something different, and something that might get more people to pay attention when his second album London Town hits the stores in September. It's an album set to be something special, and much heavier than this stunning first single.
