Surrounded by leading-edge producers and musicians (who will all be unveiled in due course), each and every morning they would eat and pray together and then spend the rest of the time driven to creative heights by each other’s talents. Much of the creative energy that shaped the album emerged from a Stormzy music camp in Osea Island – a remote island in the Essex estuary that’s only accessible via a Roman Causeway for four hours a day at low tide. And thanks to his sense of accomplishment following Glastonbury he was, for the first time, in a position to make the most of it. For all the success and awards that he has accrued during his brief, meteoric career, the lockdown that ensued from the coronavirus pandemic gave him one commodity he’d long lacked: time. The confidence which drove the album stemmed from a deeper and far more spiritual place than we have seen from Stormzy previously. Through his new record, he’s delivered an undeniable modern classic, effortlessly condensing any number of disparate styles and genres into music which thrillingly broaches any gap between urgent modern treatise, soul and hip-hop.Ī bold, brave and courageous leap forward from his critically acclaimed previous two #1 records, ‘ Gang Signs & Prayer’ and ‘ Heavy Is The Head’, this isn’t music simply for the pop charts but rather, an intimate love letter to music and one that showcases intensely personal and lyrical themes which lay bare the vulnerabilities, regret, frailties, healing, joy and triumph in a manner and to an extent that reframes the notion of what rap artists traditionally might do and be.
On the release of his third album, Stormzy stands not only as one of Britain’s most accomplished rappers, but one of its most accomplished musicians of any genre and a cultural icon. Returning to social media after a nearly 3-year hiatus, Stormzy also shares an intimate studio clip of the making of ‘ Hide & Seek’, shot during the album music camp at Osea Island in early 2021. Further to announcing his highly anticipated third album, ‘ This Is What I Mean’ last night, today Stormzy has announced ‘ Hide & Seek’, his first official single from the album which will be released globally at midnight tonight.
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