He caused a massive sensation when he appeared before 100,000 fans at Britain’s famous Glastonbury Festival in mid-2019 wearing a stab-proof vest emblazoned with a black and white Union Jack flag designed by street artist Banksy. But when he’s not on stage, British rapper Stormzy likes it a bit more comfortable.
On a chilly December day at a recording studio in Chiswick, London, the 26-year-old is wearing lined slippers. “I can only recommend them, they’re so cosy,” Stormzy says and laughs. His good mood and friendly nature are contagious.
The London musician topped British charts with his debut album “Gang Signs and Prayer” two years ago. His second album, “Heavy is the Head”, hints at the weight of a crown after winning numerous awards.
“It’s me dealing with the burdens, it’s me standing up to the task,” he explains, quickly adding that this task is “frightening … daunting and overwhelming”.
Indeed, Stormzy (real name Michael Ebenazer Kwadjo Omari Owuo Jnr) has been a role model for many, and Time magazine has named him as a “next generation leader”.
But Stormzy – who will be making his hugely anticipated return to Hong Kong at the Sónar festival on March 28 – also welcomes the awards. “I’m super happy,” he says. “I didn’t roll over one day and wake up and I was in this position. I prayed and worked for it.”
Another stab-proof vest appears on his second album cover, in what the rapper says is a statement on Britain’s huge problem with knife crime.
The issue is deeply embedded in Britain’s society, race and economy, Stormzy says.
“It’s a way deeper problem than a rapper putting on a stab-proof vest and making a statement. It’s way deeper than a lyric. It’s way deeper than a song. It’s way deeper than putting a thousand police on the streets,” he says. “I don’t know the answers.”
The issue is deeply embedded in Britain’s society, race and economy, Stormzy says.
“It’s a way deeper problem than a rapper putting on a stab-proof vest and making a statement. It’s way deeper than a lyric. It’s way deeper than a song. It’s way deeper than putting a thousand police on the streets,” he says. “I don’t know the answers.”It wasn’t his first attack on the Tory party. “Yo, Theresa May, where’s the money for Grenfell,” he shouted during his appearance at the Brit Awards 2018, referencing the 72 people killed when a poorly built block of flats in London caught fire in mid-2017 and the fact that their relatives are still waiting for compensation.
Stormzy sometimes finds it “overwhelming and discouraging” that almost everything he says, raps, sings or tweets gets a lot of attention.
“I am not your poster boy for mental health,” he raps on the second album in the song One Second, referring to his appearance on the cover of music magazine NME with the headline “Stormzy for mental health”.
“They just did it without anyone’s permission,” he says. “They just bought the picture and just put it up.”
Perhaps ironically, the piece about the rapper’s would-be mental health drive gave him a guilty conscience. “What the f***, like? You’re f****** with my mental health.”
He didn’t like the idea he was appearing to be using mental health to get more media coverage, the two-time Brit Award winner explains.
“I had one conversation, one interview. I never acted like I’m the advocate for it, so for them to post me up as it, I was like ‘Bruv, you can’t do that. I don’t even know how to deal with this s*** myself.’”In contrast to his rapper persona, which sees Stormzy, like many rappers, barking big and bold lyrics, in private he is more modest and reflective.
The musician, who performed his single Own It with superstar Ed Sheeran on the new album and has long been a sought-after collaboration partner himself, assures us that he wants to be taken in by fame as little as possible.
“As much as I’m trying to be … a great musician,” he says with his London accent, he’s also still “trying to stay the same human you was”. So far at least, he appears to have succeeded.
