Dizzee Rascal and Bun B couldn’t have less in common as rappers. The former is a snake-tongued young London MC making an unlikely transition from introspective, avant-garde grime into an Anglicized take on American indie rap (his recent signing to Def Jux was apt). Bun B, the surviving half of Houston vanguards UGK, keeps his cocky drawl deeply in the pocket, and sounds best over sweaty, trunk-rattling Southern bass and regal soul samples.

Yet on Dizzee’s new single, “Where Da G’s,” off 2007’s infuriatingly neglected “Maths & English,” the two have an unusual power balance: Dizzee as the whip-smart kid already aged before his time from label politics and crushing hype; Bun as the veteran professor of the Houston scene just now getting his due, but still reeling from the death of his UGK mate Pimp C. In the video, they kick it in Bun B’s home turf and lay ample hate on fake gangsters over a stark electro beat, and both have earned their vantage point to do so. They sound great for wholly different reasons — Dizzee firing his impenetrable patois in every direction, Bun coolly dismantling the beat with Texas swagger — but it adds up to a charged collaboration.

Bun plays the House of Blues on Friday, and Dizzee’s at the El Rey in May. Anyone interested in contemporary hip-hop should check out both.

– August Brown