It’s official, STORMZY is the Best Male Solo Artist as the BRIT Award sitting in his already packed cabinet will prove.

Accepting his award, he was quick to make reference to the gender disparity at this year’s ceremony. There was a distinct lack of female nominations in a ceremony dominated by men. Stormzy went some way to addressing that by thanking the ‘brilliant women’ who form his management team.       

He was also nominated for his latest releases but it was Dave’s excellent Psychodrama which him and some pretty beat stiff competition to win Best Album.

Those of us who’ve been fortunate enough to see STORMZY will know just how big a deal a tour announcement is. This is, without a shadow of doubt, set to be one of the most highly anticipated tours of the year. Just a little word of warning first. Videos etc will have bad language – you have been warned. As for the new album, SOUTH WALES LIFE had an early hearing and now it’s out out and we can all share it, it’s even better than you can imagine. It’s on permanent repeat.

And this is a massive a 55-date ‘H.I.T.H. World Tour’. With shows spanning across Europe, Asia, Australia, New Zealand, North America, UK & Ireland and Africa. This is Stormzy’s biggest live offering to date and quite frankly, we cannot wait till he gets to us here. Tickets are already sold out, but keep an eye out for returns, this is a gig you don’t want to miss.

For those of you that don’t know much about him, and there can’t be that many, here’s the SOUTH WALES LIFE Stormzy fact file……..

• Michael Ebenazer Kwadjo Omari Owuo Jr. is known professionally as Stormzy.
• He’s a British rapper, singer and songwriter.
• In 2014, he grabbed our attention through his Wicked Skengman series of freestyles over classic grime beats.
• “Shut Up”, which was initially released as a freestyle on YouTube, went viral and peaked number eight on the UK Singles Chart after Stormzy launched a campaign to reach Christmas number one.
• He won Best Grime Act at the 2014 and 2015 MOBO Awards and was named as an artist to look out for in the BBC’s Sound of 2015 list.
• His debut album, Gang Signs & Prayer (2017), was the first grime album to reach number one on the and won British Album of the Year at the 2018 Brit Awards. In 2019, Stormzy achieved his first number-one single with “Vossi Bop” and his headline appearance at this years Glastonbury Festival was widely praised.
• He wore a Union Jack stab vest designed by Banksy, which was widely perceived as a message on the rise in knife crime in London.

Also known for his comments on UK politics, STORMZY encouraged the audience at the Glastonbury Festival to join him in chanting “F*** the Government and **** Boris.”

The tour news comes straight off the back of a phenomenal few months for STORMZY. His hugely anticipated album ‘HEAVY IS THE HEAD, is out. The single ‘Own It’ featuring musical heavyweights Ed Sheeran and Burna Boy which became Stormzy’s 7^th top 10 single in the Official UK Charts!

His current album marks a hugely exciting return for the multi award-winning phenomenon and is a record which has been executively produced entirely by the musician himself; showcasing his world class lyricism and musicality alongside many of his celebrated and relatable subject matters. The album also features additional vocals from some of the most exciting musicians of this generation – all of whom have been hand-picked by Stormzy including, (in alphabetical order) Aitch, Burna Boy, Ed Sheeran, Headie One, H.E.R., Tiana Major9 and YEBBA with production from Fred Gibson, Fraser T Smith, T-Minus and others.

Here’s the entire track listing for the album (yes that is signed by him)……

The album is simply FANTASTIC, no other word to describe it. Every song is a hit but for us, CROWN is this years BLINDED……

Before he released his platinum-selling #1 debut album, ‘Gang Signs & Prayer’ in 2017, many would merely have called him one of the most promising rappers on the UK scene. Nearly three years on however, that description is utterly inadequate. Glastonbury proved he is a showman like no other, his remarkable ascent has been accompanied by his honest and relatable character. Known for evolving the underground musical landscape, as well as being a perennial political agitator. He is a true spokesman of black empowerment and social activism.

Of course, we can’t mention STORMZY without playing that incredible Glastonbury performance of Blinded By Your Grace…..

He has become one of the UK’s most inspiring cultural figures and earlier this year, during his headline performance at Glastonbury Festival, he took the opportunity to highlight a plethora of social issues, including the injustice of young black children being criminalised in a biased and disproportionate justice system.

Musically however, he now owns himself over 26 awards including; 

• 3 x BRIT Awards
• 1 x Ivor Novello Award
• 6 x MOBO Awards
• 1 x Q Award
• 1 x MTV EMA
• 1 x BBC Music Award
• 1 x Teen Choice Award
• 3 x AIM Awards
• 2 x BET Awards
• 2 x British GQ Awards, 2 x Global Awards 

STORMZY is also being hailed as one of TIME Magazine’s ten ‘Next Generation Leaders’ last month which coincided with him being the only leader honoured with a cover for the special issue.

He gets to the Motorpoint Arena in Cardiff on Monday 21st September. As we said, the tour is sold out, but it may be worth a check every now and then. To get yours, go here. CARDIFF