The ShortListen: Stormzy (no. 205)
London's grime prince returns
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Who? Stormzy
What’s the story? In a world awash with American rappers, it is always an unadulterated pleasure to hear a proud British accent on a great grime track. On Standard, Stormzy's latest track, he pronounces "arse" correctly and references going "out on the town with the lads [to get] wankered". But that's not all, there's also a tremendously British vocal sample repeated as the 22-year-old dishes out three minutes of rabble-rousing boasts and statements from his gold throne, over a gloriously dark and shifting beat from Walthamstow producers The HeavyTrackerz. Move aside Kanye and Jay Z, the throne to watch is Stormzy's.
For fans of: JME, Skepta, Big Narstie
In three words: Banging dark grime
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After a career in A&R, then as a session musician, Dave took a left turn into writing words. Have edited/written for Shortlist, BBC Three, the i paper, The Times, Vice, Wired and more, Dave enjoys writing about literally anything interesting, specialising in music, entertainment and the environment