“Man try say he's better than me, tell my man shut up. Mention my name in your tweets. Oi rudeboy, shut up.”
Michael Ebenazer Kwadjo Omari Owuo Jr., born 26 July 1993, known professionally as Stormzy (also referred to as Big Mike, the Problem, Stiff Chocolate and Wicked Skengman) is a British rapper and grime artist from Croydon, London.One of the most well-known innovators of UK Hip-Hop, particularly the Grime genre, his mainstream popularity and successes have made him arguably a Trope Codifier; despite him having only come up in the scene fairly recently compared to much older grime artists.
Discography
Studio Albums:
- Gang Signs And Prayer (2017)
- Heavy Is The Head (2019)
- This Is What I Mean (2022)
Mixtapes:
- 168: The Mixtape (2013)
Extended Plays:
- Not That Deep (2014)
- Dreamers Disease (2014)
Stormzy displays examples of the following:
- Audience Participation Song: Very much "Vossi Bop" due to the line:"Fuck the government and fuck Boris."
- The Cameo: Several in the video for "Mel Made Me Do It", including Usain Bolt, Jose Mourinho, Jonathan Ross, Louis Theroux, Gabrielle, Little Simz, Jme, Headie One, Soul 2 Soul and Trevor Nelson.
- Country Matters: He's a British rapper so it pops up. A particular instance is during the chorus for "Wiley Flow".
- Darker and Edgier: Just because he's a mainstream artist with plenty of young fans and a religious expressiveness doesn’t mean he's forgotten his background as a battle rapper. He tries to make people remember in songs like "Big Michael" and collabs like "I Dunno". Somewhat lampshaded in the former song."One week, it's "Blinded By Your Grace". Next week, it's bang you in your face."
- The Diss Track: During his rise there were a notable few taking aim at other Grime MCs, his
Breakthrough Hit "Shut Up" was an example. Possibly his most famous ones are "Disappointed" and "Still Disappointed", which take aim at one of his inspirations, "The Godfather Of Grime" Wiley. - Heterosexual Life-Partners: Him and Ed Sheeran are an unlikely duo who have collaborated on three songs: a remix of “Shape Of You”
, “Take Me Back To London” and “Own It”. They’ve also acknowledged each other as great friends outside of music for example when they did this."That's my brother. I've got nothing but good words to say about him." - Large Ham: Has a larger than life personality to match his large stature.
- Lighter and Softer: Stormzy has also dug into Gospel Rap to contrast his controversial lines in his grittier raps.
- The Oner: "Know Me From", which has him walk down a street while the lyrics are illustrated with the help of plenty of friends. Played for Laughs when the video cuts to black halfway through to explain that two cars blocked the shoot, although the rest of the video is from the same take. There’s also: "Wiley Flow", "Crown" and "Shut Up".
- Real Men Love Jesus: He talks a lot about his Christianity and has a few gospel songs such as "Blinded By Your Grace" and "Crown".
- Sampling:
- "Shut Up" samples the instrumental from "Functions on the Low" by Ruff Sqwad.
- "Standard" samples the song of the same name by Jme.
- "Rachel's Little Brother" samples "Baby Boy" by Big Brovaz.
- His Wicked Skengman freestyles sample instrumentals from various classic grime songs.
- "Wicked Skengman 3" uses the instrumental of "Pied Piper" by Ruff Sqwad.
- "Wicked Skengman 4" uses the instrumental of "Serious" by Jme (which itself samples "Who Knew" by Eminem).
- Take That!: Multiple people and institutions have come under fire from his pen.
- "Shut Up" addresses disses by Grime MC Cadell, as well as comments on Twitter by other rappers regarding him appearing on stage during Kanye West's BRIT Awards performance.
- "One Take Freestyle" takes aim at the BRIT Awards, boxer Dillian Whyte and once again Grime MC Cadell.
- His album Heavy Is The Head is full of these, especially towards the British government regarding Brexit.
- "
- Wolverine Publicity: He is by far one of the most popular, if not the most popular, mainstream British rapper of the modern generation and is responsible for both the resurgence of the Grime genre and the new wave of British rappers to the point that he garners more attention than OG grime artists and him featuring on tracks for even a short verse gains attraction. It's actually a major reason for his beef with Grime MC Wiley.
