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Dizzee Rascal has sold out. It doesn't matter what anyone says, playing the Calvin Harris-assisted smash "Dance Wiv Me" in front of 4,500 middle-class white people at the Brixton Academy isn't something that could have happened before he went pop. He's crossed over. He's radio-friendly. He's a familiar face on "Friday Night with Jonathan Ross". He used to be the guy spitting venom in the Roll Deep crew, now he plays the Electric Proms with the Heritage Orchestra.

It's not a criticism. The still-only-24 Dizzee has star power and he's keen to use it. He's a charming livewire, and on his latest album he's open about his priorities: money, girls and releasing tunes that go to Number One. So strong is this desire for the latter, that when XL Recordings told him they didn't like the direction his music was taking after third record "Maths + English", he released "Tongue N' Cheek" on his own label Dirtee Stank instead. Now he's an urban superstar.

Nothing about Dizzee seems false, so this live show is saturated by the way he lives life. Pound signs flash across the screen onstage, and his red t-shirt bears his own face. With no orchestra, Dizzee has to rely on traditional methods to lift the gig beyond the one-dimensional premise of him and his vocal companion Chrome rapping over DJ Semtex's beats. The crowd gets the "Oggy oggy oggy", "Oi! Oi! Oi!" treatment and each side of the room is encouraged to chant "Who are ya?!" at the other. Rascal is an energetic showman.

Then he's off for a costume change. Tellingly, the interval is filled with a mix of House Of Pain, Kanye West and Linkin Park. Perhaps Dizzee reckons the crowd needs a break from the pneumatic drill aggression of his vocal. This is, after all, the mainstream. He re-enters the stage wearing yellow and banishes Linkin Park with "Jus' A Rascal", the second of two tracks from his Mercury Prize-winning record "Boy In Da Corner". The other is "Fix Up, Look Sharp" and they're greeted like the classics no one knew they were in 2003.

Tracks from "Showtime" and "Maths + English" are spread thinly, and everyone is delighted to get a bit "Old Skool". Predictably, the last three songs are "Holiday", "Dance Wiv Me" and "Bonkers". The evening climaxes, and after less than an hour of machine-gun energy he's gone. As an artist, Dizzee's developed. His art was born from east London grime, but hip-hop, ragga and pop music have entered his remit and he's happy to bring it to the masses. Right now, he's living the dream.

by Tom Howard