Stormzy? Average? I don’t think so.

His hard-line hit ‘Shut Up’ was both his first to climb into the UK Top 40, and the first ever freestyle to accomplish that feat.  His performance on Jools Holland in 2014 made him the first unsigned rapper to have made the cut for the show.  And his latest, lively, largely anticipated album Gang Signs & Prayer (GSAP) is the first grime album to have reached number one spot in the UK Albums Chart.

So he’s doing pretty damn good – and he’s in Leeds next month.

The Croydon MC released GSAP at the end of February, after months of fans longing for his return following his ditch of social media for a year.  In true Stormzy style, he returned like a man on a mission.  His surprise gigs around London to promote the album have given fans a little taster and wanting a little (or a lot) more, and his four-month tour across the UK before rounding off at V-Fest is shaping up to be quite the Stormzy spring-and-summer spectacular.

Prepare for fast.  Prepare for furious.  And prepare for this not-so-average grime superstar to match his arena-sized ambition at the O2 Academy on 8th April.

Kitty Pandya

(Image: Pitchfork)