NEWS
EVENTS
Lessons From Stormzy: Straight Talking
RnB/Hip Hop | Tuesday 20th October 2015 | Joe
If 2014 was to be the making of Michael Omari - A.K.A. Stormzy - then 2015 will be remembered as the year of the Croydon grime MC's real musical rise. 'Big Mike' has enjoyed a mad twelve months: bagging a debut MOBO award for Best Grime Artist in 2014; named an artist to watch in the BBC's Sound of 2015 shortlist; and rolling towards 10 million views on Youtube for the viral smash 'Shut Up'.
But what can we learn from the content of his powerful words?
Lesson 1:
#1 Talk Real
It has been a crazy rise for the 22-year-old who, since the tender age of ten, has honed his spitting artistry in local rap battles and MC clashes. Here lies a key reason to his success: heartfelt bars that often talk about his years growing up around Croydon and his rise to the top of the music genre. Rather than the usual bars that copy American hip-hop culture, Stormzy has hit upon an identifiable sound and feel to his lyrics.
This 'realtalk' approach was shown in the video to 'Know Me From' - another viral sensation of 2014 - where Stormzy made his mum a star of the killer production. She is described as a major source of inspiration and stability in his life, and her own efforts to work hard for 'Big Mike' are now starting to be repaid. As he states clearly in 'Shut Up': "I wanna make my mum so proud, Like yo mum - book a flight go now".
Lesson 2:
#3 Aspire and Be
There is something inspiring about a story of a man coming from the ends and ending up a star, it's something that the rap and hip hop genres thrive upon across both sides of the Atlantic. Stormzy's message for ambition and aspiration is simple: try and you will succeed. From "being on the roads when Dizzee (Rascal) made 'I Luv You'", Big Mike mocks his current fair-weather fans in 'Know Me From'. Whether asking about his Rolex, or claiming to have known him from the beginning, those have returned to Stormzy given his recent popularity are beaten down rhyme by rhyme, line by line. And where is Stormzy in all this? Flying high. MOBO Award winner, festival headliner and lord of the mics.
Lesson 3:
#3 Fuck the Haters
It is a common criticism of UK Grime that, unlike its American uncles of rap and hip hop, the industry and its artists are too concerned with personal battles and 'postcode wars' to be properly successful. Yet there is a message hidden beneath Stormzy's insults against rivals and enemies. This is not minor postcode beef, rather, part of an effort to prove himself as a self-made artist. In 'Not That Deep' he goads his haters: "your postcode don't make you a gangster, you're not bad - you area is." Rather than strive for greatness, as Stormzy believes of himself, he criticises crews of ten men sitting around "sharing a spliff". Nothing, his powerful bars suggest, comes without hard work.
Lesson 4:
#4 The Power of Youth
In his first verse in the Fire in the Booth Cypher 2014 - arguably his best work to date - Stormzy announces the arrival of a new generation ready to take over the mantle of grime from older artists. This, he claims, is a neccessary step, ridding the industry of its dead weight and ageing themes. This can be taken more generally as a metaphor for Stormzy's buzzing career. His shattering of the glass ceiling for local grime MCs displays, in itself, the potential of a new generation. As he spits: "so next time you talk about Skepta, Giggs or Wretch - don't forget about us lot." If his current rise continues, Big Mike will undoubtedly join the list of grime's greatest before long.
Lesson 5:
#5 Enjoy Life!
Anyone who believes that grime is a purely negative genre doesn't know the first thing about it. Indeed, much of Stormzy's lyrics talk of positivity and good vibes. We can trace this right back to his beginnings as an artist, with his cover of Chris Brown's "My Last". The message, whilst describing pain and hardship, is generally meant to be uplifting. Stormzy speaks of enjoying every day and experience like it's his last, "like I never had it at all". His rapping (and repping) skills has led promoters "begging to get me on their guestlist". We won't beg, Stormz, but this is the Guestlist you want to be on.
This is the word of Stormzy. Thanks be to Stormzy.
Performing at KOKO Camden - Thursday 29th October
02 Academy Brixton - Saturday 5th December
Tickets & info here
