Get To Know: Stormzy
If you’ve never heard of the U.K. rapper Stormzy, you should get to know him and fast as the grime rapper has been making a name for himself throughout the last few years.
First off, “grime” is an East London term used to describe the UK’s electronic music styles such as garage and jungle. Grime music also includes the UK’s version of reggae, dancehall, and hip-hop.
Stormzy started building his fame in 2011 when he began making and posting YouTube videos. His “Wicked Skengman” freestyles are what gained him his recognition and catapulted him as a household name around his area of the UK.
In 2015, Stormzy made his way to The FADER magazine for two things: he'd released his EP Dreamers Disease and had just made his first appearance on the BRIT Awards stage alongside Kanye West who brought the grime rapper out, along with Skepta, Jammer, and others, as he premiered his single “All Day”
Since starting out as a YouTube sensation, the rapper from the UK has made major moves around his hometown and the industry. in 2017, his debut project Gang Signs and Prayer was released and racked in 69,000 units sold in the first week. Not only were the first-week numbers good, but Stormzy also broke a UK chart record with the most streams on a No.1 album in the UK. The newcomer was able to beat out UK giants and previous record-holders, Drake and Justin Beiber.
Following the release of his debut project, Stormzy sat down with Official Charts to explain the feeling he had the moment he found out his album did so well.
“It hasn’t sunk in yet,” Stormzy said. “Honestly, I wish I could take every person who bought and streamed the album out with me, have dinner with them, dedicate a whole night to them. I don’t take your support for granted. I can’t thank you enough.” As the conversation continued, Stormzy also spoke on the importance of this album and what it means to him as an artist.
“This is the moment that I have been waiting for my whole life,” Stormzy said. “I am now ready to certify my position as a credible artist and someone who is here for the long run.”
While his 2018 silence was noted, there was a feeling that a storm was brewing and that’s exactly what was happening. He launched back onto the scene in April with Vossi Bop - one of his largest flexes and most immediate cuts yet.
“I think it just embodies everything that I’m about,” he told Beats1 when the song dropped.
“The confidence, the humor, the style, the flair, the anarchy, the chaos, just the vibe.”
The public agreed too. The song shot straight to number one in the UK, awarding him his first pole position on the chart. What made it an even bigger victory was that it beat Taylor Swift’s comeback single ME! and also knocked chart topped Lil Nas X off number one. It was very clear at that point that Stormzy was not about to mess around this year. In 2018, he was announced as the headliner of Glastonbury 2019 and he had something to prove. He’d be the first grime rapper to headline and, with just one album under his belt, the second youngest artist to ever do it. Vossi Bop’s popularity proved that he was more than ready to take on the job.
Stormzy’s second album, ‘Heavy Is The Head,’ was released towards the end of 2019. The project hit streaming services nearly three years after he dropped his debut album, ‘Gang Signs & Prayer’.
In a recent interview with Rolling Stone, Stormzy touched on the differences between Heavy Is the Head and his critically acclaimed debut.
"This time around it was me on a really reflective, deeper, mental one. With GS&P, that was always going to be a South London story. It was 23 years of my life. Up until that moment, that was my whole story," he said. "Whereas Heavy Is the Head was me going to the studio and asking, who am I, what do I have to say, what do I need to say? It’s all these truths, it’s all these stories about who I am today, bearing the brunt of being Stormzy. Yes, I feel like the best MC in the fucking world, but I also feel like I can’t take all of this."
Catch Stormzy live in New Zealand in May 2020, and stream the album below.