Stormzy is a popular British hip hop and grime musician. The artist gained popularity in 2014 when he recorded a video with freestyle performance to classic grime beats. Today, the artist has many awards and nominations in prestigious ceremonies.
The most significant are: BBC Music Awards, Brit Awards, MTV Europe Music Awards and AIM Independent Music Awards. In 2018, his debut album Gang Signs & Prayer became the first rap album to win the Brit Awards for British Album of the Year.
Childhood and youth Stormzy
In fact, Stormzy is the creative pseudonym of a British artist. His real name is Michael Ebenazer Kwajo Omari Owuo. The singer was born on July 26, 1993 in the big city of Croydon (south London). The performer has Ghanaian roots (on the mother's side). Nothing is known about the father, the mother raised Michael, her sister and two brothers alone. The performer is the cousin of rap artist Nadia Rose, who was nominated for the BBC Sound of 2017.
Stormzy completed his high school education at Harris South Norwood Academy. His family was not connected with music. At the age of 11, he began to rap, performing with friends in local youth clubs.
During a session at Oxford University in 2016, he talked about his school days. The artist said that he was not obedient and often committed rash acts for the sake of entertainment. Despite this, he managed to pass the exams with good grades. Before fully immersing himself in music, Stormzy was trained in Leamington. For about two years he was engaged in quality control at an oil refinery.
When he decided to get creative, his family supported him. The artist shared his memories:
“My mother gave me confidence in the development of a musical career. She said: “I’m not sure if I approve of this, but I let you try” ... I know it’s difficult to explain my dreams to people, but I didn’t have to convince my mother of the correctness of the decision, she understood everything.
Stormzy's creative path
Stormzy first gained attention with the freestyle Wickedskengman in the UK underground music scene in 2014. After the first popularity, the artist decided to release the debut EP Dreamers Disease. Then he created the release himself. In October 2014, he received the MOBO Awards for Best Grime Artist.
In January 2015, Stormzy reached number 3 on the BBC Introducing top 5 chart. A few months later, the successful single Know Me From was released, which peaked at number 49 in the UK charts. In September, Michael released the final series of his freestyles, Wickedskengman 4. This included a studio recording of the track Shut Up, thanks to which the artist became famous in 2014.
Shut Up originally charted at number 59 in the UK. In December 2015, the artist performed this track during the fight between Anthony Joshua and Dillian Whyte. After a successful performance, the song quickly reached the top 40 of the iTunes chart. As a result, the track took the 8th position and became the most successful work of the rapper in his entire career.
Despite the fact that Stormzy liked to appear in social networks and the media space, in 2016 he decided to take a break. The artist released the song Scary in April. After that, there was no news about him on the Internet until the beginning of 2017. The return of the artist was the long-awaited debut album Gang Signs & Prayer. It was released at the end of February, and already at the beginning of March it took the 1st position in the UK chart.
In 2018, the performer signed a contract with Atlantic Records. A year later, he released his second album, Heavy Is the Head. It included singles: Vossi Bop, Crown, Wiley Flow and Own It. Then in January 2020, the record peaked at number 1 on the UK Albums Chart. She surpassed the albums of Robert Stewart and Harry Styles in listening.
What styles does Stormzy work in?
Stormzy started out as a street performer. He rapped in a style that was more like hip-hop than grime.
“When I started, everyone tried grime… Everyone was just trying to rap like that, and then the British rap scene came along,” he told Complex. — However, for a long time I did not understand the essence of road rap. I thought it was too slow and sounded too American. But I felt like I needed to adapt to it."
Later Stormzy found himself in contemporary grime. On YouTube you can find recordings of his freestyle performances in this style under the name Wickedskengman.
“I posted these videos myself. I don't want to sound selfish, but they weren't really for the public; it was more for my pleasure,” he admitted in an interview, “I loved grime, and I still wanted to do it.”
Moreover, the artist not only rapped, but also sang. Stormzy has often demonstrated on his album Heavy is the Head that he is a great singer. In the tracks you can hear small vocal parts of the performer, which are recorded independently and without voice editing.
Political activism and charity
Stormzy often publicly supported Labor Party leader Jeremy Corbyn. During an interview with The Guardian, he spoke of his admiration for Corbyn's activism. Along with other musicians, Michael supported the politician ahead of the 2019 UK general election. The artist wanted an end to austerity and saw James as the most suitable candidate.
After the fire in the Grenfell Tower, the artist wrote a track in honor of the victims. He also performed it at the Glastonbury Festival. He agitated listeners to demand from the authorities to reveal the truth about what happened, to bring to justice the involved representatives of the government. The artist also repeatedly accused Prime Minister Theresa May of inaction and called her an unreliable person.
In 2018, Stormzy donated funds to two scholarships for black students at the University of Cambridge. The scholarship was aimed at admitting a significant number of black students to major universities who did not get into some departments of the University of Cambridge from 2012 to 2016.
In 2020, during the Black Lives Matter protests, the musician made a statement through his label. He decided to donate £1 million a year for 10 years to support blacks. The money was transferred to organizations and social movements. They conducted their activities aimed at combating racial discrimination.
