I love the London accent! It just speaks to tremendous cynicism about everything, and overarching confidence that everything of significance in life has already been cracked, to be explained to outsiders - if they can be bothered. Non-Londoners are clearly naive by comparison. Listen to the accent through the song:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6-ejta2aB8E
But is Lily Allen's accent genuine? It may be, but is said to betray an early childhood quite unlike her more recent priviledge. Lily Allen apparently comes from a very wealthy background. So is there an element of exploitation of a certain perspective on "street life" that she can hardy have had much direct experience of... a fake version of "Jenny from the block"? Or she may be presenting a genuine internal attempt at reconstruction of how life was/would have been when her family was poor in her early childhood.
Isn't it more and more the case that talent doesn't get singers to the top these days - it is connections and "who you know" that matters a lot more. A rich girl decides she wants to be a pop star so she talks to the right people, gets a record deal, and off she goes...
Leads to the question - is London cynicism itself genuine, or merely a projection by successful escapees of less priviledged city life?
Slim