Stormzy (born Michael Ebenezer Kwadjo Omari Owuo Jr. on July 26, 1993) is a British rapper, singer, and songwriter. He rose to prominence in the UK underground music scene in 2014 with his Wicked Skengman series of freestyles over legendary grime sounds.
Stormzy’s song “Shut Up,” which was originally uploaded as a freestyle on YouTube, rose to number eight on the UK Singles Chart when he launched a campaign to achieve Christmas number one. Stormzy won Best Grime Act at the 2014 and 2015 MOBO Awards and was named one of the BBC’s Sound of 2015 artists to watch. His debut album, Gang Signs & Prayer (2017), was the first grime album to top the UK Albums Chart, and he was named British Album of the Year at the 2018 Brit Awards. Stormzy got his first UK number-one song with “Vossi Bop” in 2019, and his headline performance at the 2019 Glastonbury Festival was widely praised; in response to the spike in knife crime in London, he wore a Union Jack stab vest designed by Banksy. Heavy Is the Head, his second album, was released on December 13, 2019. Stormzy released the track “Mel Made Me Do It” on September 22, 2022, backed by an 11-minute music video starring popular artists, actors, and sports icons such as Usain Bolt and José Mourinho. This Is What I Mean, his third album, was released on Def Jam on November 25, 2022.