1 00:00:02,000 --> 00:00:04,320 This programme contains strong language from the start 2 00:00:04,320 --> 00:00:07,720 Let's look at some of your trophies. I've won a few awards - not making this about me - 3 00:00:07,720 --> 00:00:10,120 but I like it when they weigh, like, they look expensive. 4 00:00:10,120 --> 00:00:12,600 They're heavy. You want some weight, that's heavy, isn't it? 5 00:00:12,600 --> 00:00:14,800 Heavy-duty. You could do someone an injury with that. 6 00:00:14,800 --> 00:00:17,360 This, on the other hand... That wouldn't do. ..wouldn't do. 7 00:00:17,360 --> 00:00:19,400 To be fair, I don't know, if you get, you know, 8 00:00:19,400 --> 00:00:21,360 a bit of weight behind it. LOUIS LAUGHS 9 00:00:21,360 --> 00:00:23,600 My game section - games mean a lot to me. 10 00:00:23,600 --> 00:00:25,160 Quite a lot of Monopoly. 11 00:00:25,160 --> 00:00:27,880 There's a Stormzy edition. There is a Stormzy edition. 12 00:00:27,880 --> 00:00:30,840 The properties are normal, I think it's all the community - 13 00:00:30,840 --> 00:00:32,520 Look, "You have won..." 14 00:00:32,520 --> 00:00:34,520 "You have won a Mobo Award, collect 25." 15 00:00:34,520 --> 00:00:36,400 "Jay Z rates you, receive 100..." 16 00:00:36,400 --> 00:00:38,320 STORMZY LAUGHS That's hard. 17 00:00:39,600 --> 00:00:42,920 Over here. The Time cover. 18 00:00:42,920 --> 00:00:46,720 Being on the cover of Time is almost like the gold standard 19 00:00:46,720 --> 00:00:49,640 of what achievement is supposed to look like. 20 00:00:49,640 --> 00:00:51,760 Like, it's the pinnacle. Yeah. 21 00:00:51,760 --> 00:00:54,320 In terms of things I'm most proud of, this is up there 22 00:00:54,320 --> 00:00:57,160 with the best of them, that. 23 00:00:57,160 --> 00:00:59,440 As much as I was proud of it, I feel like there was a period 24 00:00:59,440 --> 00:01:03,240 after it where I was probably not in the best mind space, 25 00:01:03,240 --> 00:01:05,360 and it used to, like... 26 00:01:05,360 --> 00:01:09,360 It was a bit overbearing, in terms of "Yo, you're..." 27 00:01:09,360 --> 00:01:12,360 Fuck, what was it, fucking "next generation leader"? 28 00:01:12,360 --> 00:01:14,960 "British rapper Stormzy and nine other young trailblazers 29 00:01:14,960 --> 00:01:17,080 "who are shaping the world." Yeah, that's a lot. 30 00:01:17,080 --> 00:01:19,920 That's a lot. "Shaping the world"? Yeah, yeah, yeah, I don't know. 31 00:01:19,920 --> 00:01:22,120 The world's big. That's a lot there. 32 00:01:22,120 --> 00:01:24,040 I might've cried about that. 33 00:01:24,040 --> 00:01:25,760 Not, like, as in... Bawling? 34 00:01:25,760 --> 00:01:28,600 TEARFULLY: .."bro, I'm the next generation leader, man". 35 00:01:28,600 --> 00:01:31,920 Not like that, innit, like, but as in, there was a time 36 00:01:31,920 --> 00:01:34,480 where I was going through this and going through that, 37 00:01:34,480 --> 00:01:37,880 and then, there's just an overwhelmingness that would've 38 00:01:37,880 --> 00:01:39,920 made me come to tears, or whatever. 39 00:01:48,040 --> 00:01:50,240 Apologies for taking over your front room, by the way. 40 00:01:50,240 --> 00:01:52,560 It's all right. It's all right, man. 41 00:01:52,560 --> 00:01:53,760 It's all right. 42 00:01:53,760 --> 00:01:57,520 Michael Ebenezer Kwadjo Omari Owuo Jr - 43 00:01:57,520 --> 00:01:59,280 better known as Stormzy - 44 00:01:59,280 --> 00:02:03,880 is the most successful rapper the UK has ever produced. 45 00:02:03,880 --> 00:02:07,000 It's the first interview you've given in quite a while. 46 00:02:07,000 --> 00:02:09,360 A long time, yeah, yeah. Is it two years? Is it? 47 00:02:09,360 --> 00:02:13,080 He'd agreed to let me in and experience his life on the road 48 00:02:13,080 --> 00:02:16,600 and in the studio, and to sit down for a no-holds-barred 49 00:02:16,600 --> 00:02:18,520 conversation at his home. 50 00:02:21,920 --> 00:02:23,280 It's quite new to me. 51 00:02:23,280 --> 00:02:26,360 What, all this? Yeah. Oh, is it? Yeah. 52 00:02:26,360 --> 00:02:28,560 Yeah, it's probably a bit new to me, as well. 53 00:02:28,560 --> 00:02:29,880 But it's all right. 54 00:02:29,880 --> 00:02:31,600 THEY LAUGH 55 00:02:50,320 --> 00:02:53,560 I was in Glasgow, at the OVO Hydro Arena, 56 00:02:53,560 --> 00:02:56,640 with an appointment to meet Stormzy. 57 00:02:56,640 --> 00:02:58,640 If I could just find him. 58 00:02:59,840 --> 00:03:01,120 Hello. Hi. 59 00:03:01,120 --> 00:03:03,000 Is it this way to Stormzy? 60 00:03:03,000 --> 00:03:04,280 To the dressing room? Yeah. 61 00:03:04,280 --> 00:03:06,880 Yeah, if you go out there, and then, just straight up the stairs. 62 00:03:06,880 --> 00:03:08,160 OK, thank you. 63 00:03:11,440 --> 00:03:12,720 Hello. How are you doing? 64 00:03:12,720 --> 00:03:14,840 Pleasure to meet you, Louis. Likewise. How are you? 65 00:03:14,840 --> 00:03:17,760 Yeah, I'm good. You're good? A little hug? Yeah, a big hug! 66 00:03:17,760 --> 00:03:19,480 STORMZY LAUGHS Big hug! Big fan. 67 00:03:19,480 --> 00:03:21,640 I wanted to meet you for so long. Yeah, me too. 68 00:03:21,640 --> 00:03:25,240 Being in front of you feels a bit like...you know what I mean? 69 00:03:25,240 --> 00:03:28,280 Like I've just popped out of the TV? Or just, like...? 70 00:03:28,280 --> 00:03:31,320 No, like, even when you walked in, it's like, "OK, be normal. 71 00:03:31,320 --> 00:03:33,400 "Be normal. Hello, Louis. Nice to meet you." 72 00:03:33,400 --> 00:03:35,320 Yeah, yeah, yeah. But do you know what I mean? 73 00:03:35,320 --> 00:03:38,440 Truly, I would've been like, "Oh, shit! Louis Theroux!" 74 00:03:38,440 --> 00:03:39,840 LAUGHTER 75 00:03:39,840 --> 00:03:42,680 I mean, it was the final night of Stormzy's tour. 76 00:03:42,680 --> 00:03:46,600 15 sold-out dates in arenas around the UK and Ireland, 77 00:03:46,600 --> 00:03:49,600 reaching an audience whose size was unprecedented 78 00:03:49,600 --> 00:03:51,200 for a British rap artist. 79 00:03:52,440 --> 00:03:55,240 All right, you lead the way, Stormz, if that's all right. Yeah, cool. 80 00:03:55,240 --> 00:03:58,120 Am I all right, calling you Stormz? Yeah, yeah, no, whatever you want. 81 00:03:58,120 --> 00:03:59,800 Stormz, Mike, whatever. 82 00:03:59,800 --> 00:04:02,680 This feels like one of the bigger ones, to be fair. 83 00:04:02,680 --> 00:04:04,000 Do you know the capacity? 84 00:04:04,000 --> 00:04:06,160 I think it's - what's the capacity? 85 00:04:06,160 --> 00:04:08,120 Er, 16. 16,000. 86 00:04:09,840 --> 00:04:12,640 This one looks big. Does it? Yeah, yeah, yeah. 87 00:04:12,640 --> 00:04:15,000 Goes through your head when you look around? 88 00:04:15,000 --> 00:04:18,240 Erm...let's be havin' ya. 89 00:04:18,240 --> 00:04:19,680 Yeah? Yeah. Let's do this. 90 00:04:19,680 --> 00:04:21,800 Yeah. Nerves? 91 00:04:21,800 --> 00:04:23,960 Nah, you know? 92 00:04:23,960 --> 00:04:25,760 Nah. 93 00:04:25,760 --> 00:04:27,680 Nah, nah. Really? Nah. 94 00:04:29,440 --> 00:04:32,280 You're taking your diet quite seriously. Super seriously. 95 00:04:32,280 --> 00:04:33,800 Like what? In what way? 96 00:04:33,800 --> 00:04:36,000 Before a tour, I stay away from white rice. 97 00:04:36,000 --> 00:04:38,000 Stay away from potatoes. 98 00:04:38,000 --> 00:04:41,440 Anything bad - I won't even have a single crisp, like... 99 00:04:41,440 --> 00:04:42,720 Seriously? Like, nothing. 100 00:04:42,720 --> 00:04:44,440 Not nuts? 101 00:04:44,440 --> 00:04:46,120 I'm allowed nuts to a degree. 102 00:04:46,120 --> 00:04:48,560 Like, if I'm having yoghurt, I could have nuts with it. 103 00:04:48,560 --> 00:04:49,640 I don't have nuts with it. 104 00:04:49,640 --> 00:04:52,280 But, yeah, no, I take... That's rock-n-roll. Yeah, yeah. 105 00:04:52,280 --> 00:04:54,360 Having nuts with your yoghurt? With my yoghurt. 106 00:04:54,360 --> 00:04:56,480 But that's, like... You're getting wild. 107 00:04:56,480 --> 00:04:59,880 If I'm - and a little bit of pomegranate, that's like a wild, 108 00:04:59,880 --> 00:05:02,560 like, I'm ballin' out of control, like, yeah, literally. 109 00:05:02,560 --> 00:05:04,000 But, yeah. 110 00:05:04,000 --> 00:05:07,440 Your, sort of, high-knee dance... Yeah. ..has gone viral on TikTok. 111 00:05:07,440 --> 00:05:09,200 I've heard, I've heard. Did you know that? 112 00:05:09,200 --> 00:05:11,240 Yeah, Deezer told me. Did you invent that? 113 00:05:11,240 --> 00:05:12,560 I think I did. 114 00:05:12,560 --> 00:05:15,200 So, this is, like, you do the high knees all the way down there. 115 00:05:15,200 --> 00:05:17,640 Yeah. Boom, boom, boom, high knee, boom, boom, boom. 116 00:05:17,640 --> 00:05:19,880 Pyro, boom, straight off the gate. 117 00:05:19,880 --> 00:05:21,800 Pow, pow, pow - that's when the high knees - 118 00:05:21,800 --> 00:05:23,200 pow, pow, pow, pow. 119 00:05:23,200 --> 00:05:25,400 Come here, I give it to them. 120 00:05:25,400 --> 00:05:28,480 You gotta come back here, give them a little bit of it. 121 00:05:28,480 --> 00:05:31,560 Then you go back up there, turn around, and go back there, 122 00:05:31,560 --> 00:05:33,200 and you come back down again. 123 00:05:33,200 --> 00:05:36,000 Give them the high knees again. Is it? Pow! 124 00:05:36,000 --> 00:05:38,000 It's like you've got to charge up the high knees. 125 00:05:38,000 --> 00:05:40,200 You can't just always do it. You gotta charge it up. 126 00:05:40,200 --> 00:05:43,120 Charge it up? And then, that's when I'm charging it up. 127 00:05:43,120 --> 00:05:45,320 It's like FIFA, when you sprint. Exactly! 128 00:05:45,320 --> 00:05:48,680 And then, you gotta regain the energy, and then you, baahhhh, 129 00:05:48,680 --> 00:05:49,840 and come back out. 130 00:05:49,840 --> 00:05:51,840 Yeah, yeah, yeah, it's - yeah, yeah, yeah! 131 00:05:51,840 --> 00:05:54,040 That's it! Yeah, yeah, sometimes I do that. 132 00:05:54,040 --> 00:05:56,640 HE LAUGHS 133 00:05:56,640 --> 00:05:59,040 I'm done. Sometimes I do that, yeah. Sometimes I do that. 134 00:05:59,040 --> 00:06:00,160 That's the static one. 135 00:06:00,160 --> 00:06:03,080 That's the, like, just between me and - you know what I mean? 136 00:06:03,080 --> 00:06:06,000 Yeah, you got it. Oh, man, thank you. 137 00:06:06,000 --> 00:06:08,960 # Stormzy, you know I'm bringing bookin' back for good. 138 00:06:08,960 --> 00:06:10,800 # And they say he's a cocky little sod 139 00:06:10,800 --> 00:06:13,760 # But the kid's got bars, so you gotta give him props... # 140 00:06:13,760 --> 00:06:17,880 Stormzy's journey to arenas had started 11 years earlier when, 141 00:06:17,880 --> 00:06:21,520 as a teenager, he'd begun sharing videos he'd filmed on his estate 142 00:06:21,520 --> 00:06:25,280 in South London, building an underground fan base. 143 00:06:25,280 --> 00:06:27,160 Follow me on Twitter @Stormzy1. 144 00:06:27,160 --> 00:06:29,600 One fan on Facebook, Stormzy Omari. 145 00:06:29,600 --> 00:06:31,280 State your name, cuz. 146 00:06:31,280 --> 00:06:32,760 Stormzy, innit? 147 00:06:32,760 --> 00:06:36,000 In 2015, he burst into the mainstream with the release 148 00:06:36,000 --> 00:06:38,680 of the freestyle "Shut Up". 149 00:06:38,680 --> 00:06:40,440 Let's go. Look. 150 00:06:40,440 --> 00:06:42,040 # Man try say he's better than me 151 00:06:42,040 --> 00:06:44,160 # Tell my man, shut up ALL: # Shut up 152 00:06:44,160 --> 00:06:45,600 # Mention my name in your tweets 153 00:06:45,600 --> 00:06:47,480 # Oi, rude boy, shut up # Shut up 154 00:06:47,480 --> 00:06:49,000 # How can you be better than me... # 155 00:06:49,000 --> 00:06:51,960 Two number-one albums followed - and along with them, 156 00:06:51,960 --> 00:06:56,520 celebrity status and a platform for his uncompromising views. 157 00:06:56,520 --> 00:06:59,440 # That you're Theresa May, Where's the money for Grenfell? 158 00:06:59,440 --> 00:07:02,520 # What, you thought we just forgot about Grenfell... # 159 00:07:02,520 --> 00:07:05,360 MUSIC: Shut Up by Stormzy 160 00:07:05,360 --> 00:07:08,080 AUDIENCE HUMS ALONG 161 00:07:08,080 --> 00:07:11,960 At his show in Glasgow, I was struck by his enormous achievement 162 00:07:11,960 --> 00:07:13,760 and his impressive physique 163 00:07:13,760 --> 00:07:17,080 as I reflected on his ability to connect with the audience. 164 00:07:17,080 --> 00:07:18,680 # Man try say he's better than me 165 00:07:18,680 --> 00:07:20,240 # Tell my man, shut up 166 00:07:20,240 --> 00:07:22,000 # Mention my name in your tweets 167 00:07:22,000 --> 00:07:24,120 # Oi, rude boy, shut up 168 00:07:24,120 --> 00:07:27,000 # Better than me? Shut up! 169 00:07:27,000 --> 00:07:29,040 # Best in the scene... # 170 00:07:29,040 --> 00:07:32,800 I was also aware that his success had been hard won with bumps 171 00:07:32,800 --> 00:07:37,240 in the road, his share of haters, and moments of vulnerability - 172 00:07:37,240 --> 00:07:39,800 all of which I was hoping to talk to him about. 173 00:07:41,160 --> 00:07:43,280 So, thank you for doing this. Nah, thank you. 174 00:07:43,280 --> 00:07:48,480 And just to say, I think it's been at least three years, 175 00:07:48,480 --> 00:07:50,720 I've been trying to set this up. Oh, that's mad. 176 00:07:50,720 --> 00:07:53,160 The read I've got a view, based on talking to you, and then, 177 00:07:53,160 --> 00:07:56,120 seeing your bit in Glasgow - you seem to be in a really good 178 00:07:56,120 --> 00:07:58,680 place, like, as far as your outlook on life, your sense of 179 00:07:58,680 --> 00:08:00,000 where you are artistically. 180 00:08:00,000 --> 00:08:02,000 Would you agree with that, more or less? 181 00:08:02,000 --> 00:08:03,760 Yeah, 100%. Yeah. 182 00:08:03,760 --> 00:08:06,840 In reading up on you - and I'm aware that your artistic process 183 00:08:06,840 --> 00:08:09,760 takes a lot out of you... Yeah, a lot. ..would that be fair? 184 00:08:09,760 --> 00:08:13,600 Mm-hm. And that when you did your first album, there was a period 185 00:08:13,600 --> 00:08:17,120 when you went more or less AWOL from the studio, it sounded like? 186 00:08:17,120 --> 00:08:19,320 Is that right? Mm-hm. 187 00:08:19,320 --> 00:08:20,840 What's that about? 188 00:08:20,840 --> 00:08:25,120 You come into music - and I came to music when I was about 19, 20, 189 00:08:25,120 --> 00:08:29,240 whatever - and I'm becoming a man. 190 00:08:29,240 --> 00:08:32,400 I'm growing, and I'm going on my journey as a man. 191 00:08:32,400 --> 00:08:36,440 And then, I'm also trying to figure out how to be the greatest artist. 192 00:08:36,440 --> 00:08:40,320 And then, also in that, as well, I'm in a relationship, 193 00:08:40,320 --> 00:08:44,320 which is, like, an amazing relationship, there was ups, 194 00:08:44,320 --> 00:08:45,640 and there was downs. 195 00:08:45,640 --> 00:08:51,040 And then, I'm also being a family man, I'm being a son, 196 00:08:51,040 --> 00:08:53,280 I'm being a provider. 197 00:08:53,280 --> 00:08:57,000 And I'm also trying to provide and lead in my community, 198 00:08:57,000 --> 00:09:00,080 and for, like, my people, it was very overwhelming 199 00:09:00,080 --> 00:09:04,320 and difficult to... handle all those things. 200 00:09:04,320 --> 00:09:08,600 While I was making an album, I would often, like, just crash out 201 00:09:08,600 --> 00:09:12,760 and just, like, get super depressed or, like, in a super withdrawn 202 00:09:12,760 --> 00:09:14,280 and super reclusive, like... 203 00:09:14,280 --> 00:09:16,000 And disappear? ..and disappear. 204 00:09:16,000 --> 00:09:18,800 What was your routine in those moments? 205 00:09:18,800 --> 00:09:20,560 Just stay at home. 206 00:09:20,560 --> 00:09:22,600 I'll just stay at home, smoke a lot of weed. 207 00:09:22,600 --> 00:09:24,920 Would you be conscious of being in crisis? 208 00:09:24,920 --> 00:09:27,320 Because some people describe depression as a blankness, 209 00:09:27,320 --> 00:09:28,720 like, as a nothing. Yeah. 210 00:09:28,720 --> 00:09:32,880 No, mine was definitely a feeling of just overwhelmingness of, like, 211 00:09:32,880 --> 00:09:36,600 I actually can't handle this - which also, in a mad way, 212 00:09:36,600 --> 00:09:40,560 was super new to me, because I was always a very able 213 00:09:40,560 --> 00:09:43,080 and capable child. 214 00:09:43,080 --> 00:09:47,600 I would break down and, like, yeah, it was just super heavy for me. 215 00:09:47,600 --> 00:09:51,360 And then, the album came out, and then, you have that period of, 216 00:09:51,360 --> 00:09:55,720 like, all your hard work paying off, the album done amazingly, 217 00:09:55,720 --> 00:09:57,760 and then, you go on that journey with it. 218 00:09:57,760 --> 00:10:01,160 And then...2019 comes. 219 00:10:03,200 --> 00:10:04,320 # Yo... 220 00:10:04,320 --> 00:10:05,960 CROWD CHEERS 221 00:10:05,960 --> 00:10:07,000 Hey, Glasto! 222 00:10:07,000 --> 00:10:08,320 # I don't know what to say... # 223 00:10:08,320 --> 00:10:10,160 One, two, three, four! 224 00:10:12,800 --> 00:10:15,680 In Stormzy's banner year of 2019, 225 00:10:15,680 --> 00:10:18,760 he headlined Glastonbury to wild acclaim and released 226 00:10:18,760 --> 00:10:21,280 his genre-breaking second album. 227 00:10:21,280 --> 00:10:24,120 This is the greatest night of my entire life. 228 00:10:24,120 --> 00:10:26,960 CHEERING 229 00:10:26,960 --> 00:10:29,040 Please welcome Stormzy! 230 00:10:29,040 --> 00:10:30,840 It's Stormzy! 231 00:10:30,840 --> 00:10:34,240 But his status as a national figure drew increased scrutiny 232 00:10:34,240 --> 00:10:37,000 when his relationship with the DJ and TV presenter 233 00:10:37,000 --> 00:10:39,160 Maya Jama broke down. 234 00:10:39,160 --> 00:10:41,920 In early 2020, he came off social media. 235 00:10:43,120 --> 00:10:45,320 When I think about that year and what I went through, 236 00:10:45,320 --> 00:10:46,680 and what I had to deal with, 237 00:10:46,680 --> 00:10:49,200 it was fucking overwhelming. 238 00:10:49,200 --> 00:10:51,400 Where was the stress coming from? 239 00:10:51,400 --> 00:10:56,560 Was it internal? Was it - specifically, was it criticisms 240 00:10:56,560 --> 00:10:58,040 on social media? 241 00:10:58,040 --> 00:11:00,720 The narrative with me and social media has been, like, 242 00:11:00,720 --> 00:11:04,040 maybe I was getting, like, a lot of negativity directed towards me, 243 00:11:04,040 --> 00:11:06,000 and it made me come off - because someone at my gym 244 00:11:06,000 --> 00:11:07,400 came up to me and was like, 245 00:11:07,400 --> 00:11:10,080 "Yeah, I heard you came off social media because..." 246 00:11:10,080 --> 00:11:12,880 And I was like, "Everyone's missed the point". 247 00:11:12,880 --> 00:11:16,560 Listen, if fucking Tommy from fucking Plymouth wakes up and says, 248 00:11:16,560 --> 00:11:19,440 "Stormzy, you're shit" - that's fine. 249 00:11:19,440 --> 00:11:21,080 That's the most bearable thing. 250 00:11:21,080 --> 00:11:23,160 I mean, that's very bearable. 251 00:11:23,160 --> 00:11:25,560 But it was just becoming super distracting. 252 00:11:25,560 --> 00:11:27,240 I said, "I can't". 253 00:11:27,240 --> 00:11:30,000 I'm so overwhelmed in my reality that I can't be coming on 254 00:11:30,000 --> 00:11:34,200 this place, and I'll be consuming everyone else's fucking reality. 255 00:11:34,200 --> 00:11:36,680 I can't hear my thoughts, like I always say, 256 00:11:36,680 --> 00:11:40,280 when I came off social media, the deepest thing about it is 257 00:11:40,280 --> 00:11:42,360 I always felt like I could hear God speak. 258 00:11:42,360 --> 00:11:45,320 That's what I thought, yeah, I felt like I could hear God speak, 259 00:11:45,320 --> 00:11:48,360 I could hear myself speak, and I had clarity. 260 00:11:48,360 --> 00:11:51,320 The past two years for me, especially... 261 00:11:53,360 --> 00:11:58,040 ..after my break-up and Glastonbury, 262 00:11:58,040 --> 00:12:02,600 and the second album coming out, and the pandemic - 263 00:12:02,600 --> 00:12:05,440 between those, like, four or five factors, 264 00:12:05,440 --> 00:12:10,120 it just allowed a lot of time of growth and self-reflection. 265 00:12:10,120 --> 00:12:15,440 My break-up, that was probably the biggest catalyst 266 00:12:15,440 --> 00:12:17,800 for growth as a man. 267 00:12:17,800 --> 00:12:20,640 It was like, "OK, you made a mistake, 268 00:12:20,640 --> 00:12:24,000 "and you lose someone you love, someone you cared for, 269 00:12:24,000 --> 00:12:25,640 "someone who's special to you". 270 00:12:25,640 --> 00:12:28,240 That's probably the biggest loss a man can have, innit? 271 00:12:28,240 --> 00:12:31,280 Like, away from someone passing away. Right, exactly. 272 00:12:31,280 --> 00:12:34,360 Away from actual, like, death... Bereavement, sure. 273 00:12:34,360 --> 00:12:36,920 ..that's the biggest loss you can have. 274 00:12:36,920 --> 00:12:39,160 When you talk about mistakes, what do you mean? 275 00:12:39,160 --> 00:12:42,440 I mean, like, the whole fucking... 276 00:12:42,440 --> 00:12:45,440 ..palaver that surrounded that situation, y'know what I mean, like? 277 00:12:45,440 --> 00:12:47,600 It was assumed that you'd been unfaithful, and then, 278 00:12:47,600 --> 00:12:49,880 you put that to bed and said, "No, I wasn't unfaithful, 279 00:12:49,880 --> 00:12:52,440 "but I disrespecting her" - but that was after you'd broken up, 280 00:12:52,440 --> 00:12:54,520 as I understand it. Yeah, but it was still, like - 281 00:12:54,520 --> 00:12:58,400 and there was other things, like, in terms of, like... 282 00:12:58,400 --> 00:13:00,280 There was, like... 283 00:13:00,280 --> 00:13:02,920 There was mistakes that I'd made, like, do you get what I mean? 284 00:13:02,920 --> 00:13:05,080 In the relationship? Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. 285 00:13:05,080 --> 00:13:07,520 You weren't making her breakfast often enough. 286 00:13:07,520 --> 00:13:10,480 No, listen, that was probably a good thing, cos I'm a fucking shit... 287 00:13:10,480 --> 00:13:12,160 I'm a shit cook. 288 00:13:12,160 --> 00:13:14,840 I just - do you know what? This is the best way to put it. 289 00:13:14,840 --> 00:13:17,200 Did you snore in bed? HE LAUGHS 290 00:13:17,200 --> 00:13:24,400 Sorry. No, what I did is, I didn't do what a man should do to... 291 00:13:24,400 --> 00:13:28,520 ..to fully appreciate, love, and care for his woman. 292 00:13:28,520 --> 00:13:31,840 Long story short, I learnt from that, it's like, OK, if I don't ever 293 00:13:31,840 --> 00:13:33,320 want to feel like that again, 294 00:13:33,320 --> 00:13:35,960 and if I believe that God will bless me with, like, 295 00:13:35,960 --> 00:13:39,920 an amazing woman and a family, and marriage and all of that thing, 296 00:13:39,920 --> 00:13:43,280 it's like, I have to do all the necessary work to never be 297 00:13:43,280 --> 00:13:44,880 in that situation again. 298 00:13:44,880 --> 00:13:46,560 Do you get what I mean? Mm. 299 00:13:49,680 --> 00:13:52,120 Do you want a drink, Louis? No, no, I'm all right. 300 00:13:53,960 --> 00:13:55,840 Last night, I was working YouTube. 301 00:13:55,840 --> 00:13:58,240 I wonder if I've heard all the music. 302 00:13:58,240 --> 00:14:00,440 And, of course, one of them is Little Mix, right? 303 00:14:00,440 --> 00:14:02,880 Yes. Called Power. Called Power. 304 00:14:02,880 --> 00:14:04,720 I'm not going to sing it. 305 00:14:04,720 --> 00:14:07,000 The little... I can't do it justice. 306 00:14:07,000 --> 00:14:08,200 What is it? 307 00:14:08,200 --> 00:14:09,920 # Na, na, na-ah, na 308 00:14:09,920 --> 00:14:13,040 # I got the, I got the, I got the power... # 309 00:14:13,040 --> 00:14:15,480 STORMZY LAUGHS 310 00:14:15,480 --> 00:14:16,760 # La, la, la-la, la 311 00:14:16,760 --> 00:14:18,600 # I got the, I got the, I got the... # 312 00:14:18,600 --> 00:14:20,080 # I got the power... # 313 00:14:20,080 --> 00:14:22,360 THEY BOTH SING 314 00:14:22,360 --> 00:14:25,440 That's got the most views, from what I can tell. 315 00:14:25,440 --> 00:14:26,760 That's, like, at 400 million. 316 00:14:26,760 --> 00:14:28,520 Oh, is it? Fucking... I didn't know that. 317 00:14:28,520 --> 00:14:30,920 Yeah. I didn't know that. Big tune. Does that surprise you? 318 00:14:30,920 --> 00:14:32,840 No. It's Little Mix. 319 00:14:32,840 --> 00:14:34,960 They're fucking... They're amazing. 320 00:14:34,960 --> 00:14:36,920 And I'm so proud of that song as well, 321 00:14:36,920 --> 00:14:38,560 because, at the time, 322 00:14:38,560 --> 00:14:40,080 as you could expect, it was like, 323 00:14:40,080 --> 00:14:42,000 "Whoa, why is he doing a fucking song..." 324 00:14:42,000 --> 00:14:43,920 I remember hearing it and being surprised. 325 00:14:43,920 --> 00:14:46,120 That sounds like Stormzy on a Little Mix track. 326 00:14:46,120 --> 00:14:48,440 I knew that, coming from my background 327 00:14:48,440 --> 00:14:50,640 of being an emcee, a rapper, 328 00:14:50,640 --> 00:14:52,680 that I would get some sort of... 329 00:14:52,680 --> 00:14:54,080 I'll get some sort of, 330 00:14:54,080 --> 00:14:56,560 "Hey, you shouldn't be doing that, or, "Why...? 331 00:14:56,560 --> 00:14:58,200 "Why are you working with that artist?" 332 00:14:58,200 --> 00:14:59,480 Or, "Why are you doing that?" 333 00:14:59,480 --> 00:15:02,680 Specifically, the idea that you're no longer keeping it real? 334 00:15:02,680 --> 00:15:04,640 You're no longer staying true to your community 335 00:15:04,640 --> 00:15:06,720 and where you came from? Yeah, yeah, yeah. 336 00:15:06,720 --> 00:15:07,760 If I love Little Mix, 337 00:15:07,760 --> 00:15:09,880 and then Little Mix approach me to do a song, 338 00:15:09,880 --> 00:15:13,680 and then I say no, because man's got to keep it real... Mm. 339 00:15:14,760 --> 00:15:16,640 Surely that's... Surely that's 340 00:15:16,640 --> 00:15:18,880 the fakest thing I can do in that moment. 341 00:15:18,880 --> 00:15:21,000 "Little Mix. I love you. You've sent me this song. 342 00:15:21,000 --> 00:15:22,320 "I think this tune is cold. 343 00:15:22,320 --> 00:15:25,000 "Can't do it because I need to keep it real." 344 00:15:25,000 --> 00:15:27,560 I've never made an artistic decision 345 00:15:27,560 --> 00:15:31,600 without it being solely off the basis of music, ever in my life. 346 00:15:31,600 --> 00:15:35,480 And I've said, "If I stick to that, I'll have a career." 347 00:15:39,760 --> 00:15:41,760 There was an interview where you talked about, 348 00:15:41,760 --> 00:15:43,960 "Oh, do you get stick for this or that 349 00:15:43,960 --> 00:15:46,200 "for like having openly Christian lyrics?" 350 00:15:46,200 --> 00:15:48,920 And you said, "No, no. To be fair, that's not what I get grief about. 351 00:15:48,920 --> 00:15:52,120 "If I get grief, it's for being unapologetically black." 352 00:15:52,120 --> 00:15:54,320 Yeah. Do you remember saying that? Yeah, yeah, yeah. 353 00:15:54,320 --> 00:15:55,800 And I was really struck by that. 354 00:15:55,800 --> 00:16:01,360 And I just wondered what being unapologetically black means to you. 355 00:16:01,360 --> 00:16:02,760 It just means, like... 356 00:16:04,520 --> 00:16:06,040 It's just... It's just some, like, 357 00:16:06,040 --> 00:16:08,320 it's funny, but it's just like, I'm black, innit? 358 00:16:08,320 --> 00:16:11,600 Like, sometimes it's like, not a lot of people, 359 00:16:11,600 --> 00:16:13,680 but there are some people who don't realise, 360 00:16:13,680 --> 00:16:17,320 it's like I'm definitely black in terms of, like, 361 00:16:17,320 --> 00:16:20,760 my issues are going to be black. 362 00:16:20,760 --> 00:16:24,680 The things I care about are mostly going to be about black people. 363 00:16:24,680 --> 00:16:26,240 The classic one was the scholarship, 364 00:16:26,240 --> 00:16:28,760 where I'm doing a scholarship for black kids and it's like... 365 00:16:28,760 --> 00:16:30,440 Right, right. For people who don't know, 366 00:16:30,440 --> 00:16:33,160 there is a scholarship established with your money. 367 00:16:33,160 --> 00:16:35,440 Yeah. And it was for black kids to go to Cambridge. Yeah. 368 00:16:35,440 --> 00:16:37,440 And they'd be... It was like, "What?!" 369 00:16:37,440 --> 00:16:39,760 and it was like... And I was like, 370 00:16:39,760 --> 00:16:41,880 "Yeah, I fully understand. everyone's surprised. 371 00:16:41,880 --> 00:16:43,480 "I'm black, innit?" 372 00:16:43,480 --> 00:16:45,040 Well, there was some dissent, 373 00:16:45,040 --> 00:16:47,480 like, a few people had issues with that, did they? Yeah. 374 00:16:47,480 --> 00:16:51,320 Yeah, like, there was a lot of a lot of backlash around it, 375 00:16:51,320 --> 00:16:53,520 a lot of the time I could tell 376 00:16:53,520 --> 00:16:56,800 people weren't actually being horrible. 377 00:16:56,800 --> 00:16:58,360 There were some people with genuine, 378 00:16:58,360 --> 00:17:01,080 "Hey, Stormz, like, I'm from a working class background," like... 379 00:17:01,080 --> 00:17:02,920 White people, this was? Yeah, yeah, yeah. 380 00:17:02,920 --> 00:17:05,560 White people, Asian people. Can I apply for your scholarship? 381 00:17:05,560 --> 00:17:08,040 That's what I used to feel, like I had a duty to explain to them. 382 00:17:08,040 --> 00:17:12,960 Whereas now I'm like, "Well, I'm kind of tired of explaining this," 383 00:17:12,960 --> 00:17:15,640 it's just like that's dearest to my heart, like, 384 00:17:15,640 --> 00:17:17,520 and coming from where I come from, 385 00:17:17,520 --> 00:17:21,040 that's like a pressing matter on my heart. So... 386 00:17:21,040 --> 00:17:24,160 And I think cos there's obviously been black people 387 00:17:24,160 --> 00:17:26,760 in the public eye going back decades, you know, 388 00:17:26,760 --> 00:17:29,280 maybe what's changed is this sort of sense that, 389 00:17:29,280 --> 00:17:32,520 maybe, before, to be black in the public space, 390 00:17:32,520 --> 00:17:36,560 there was some part of you that you had to surrender. Right? 391 00:17:36,560 --> 00:17:40,480 And now you've shown that that need not be the case. 392 00:17:40,480 --> 00:17:42,880 Yeah. At all. At all, like... 393 00:17:49,120 --> 00:17:51,000 Shall we talk about where you came from? 394 00:17:51,000 --> 00:17:53,360 Yeah. Which is where? Where is it? 395 00:17:53,360 --> 00:17:54,400 Um, Croydon. 396 00:17:56,160 --> 00:17:58,000 In terms of your own story, 397 00:17:58,000 --> 00:18:01,360 you've been quite open about talking about challenges 398 00:18:01,360 --> 00:18:04,240 that you had growing up and specifically 399 00:18:04,240 --> 00:18:06,120 being studious, doing well in school, 400 00:18:06,120 --> 00:18:07,360 getting really good results. 401 00:18:07,360 --> 00:18:11,160 And then, at a certain point, kind of like the call of the road, right? 402 00:18:11,160 --> 00:18:14,600 The reality for me and a lot of my brethren is like 403 00:18:14,600 --> 00:18:17,760 a lot of us weren't coming from two-parent households. 404 00:18:17,760 --> 00:18:19,720 It was usually just your mum. 405 00:18:19,720 --> 00:18:22,160 At the time, you don't even see nothing in that, 406 00:18:22,160 --> 00:18:23,880 like, until you grow up. 407 00:18:23,880 --> 00:18:26,040 And it's like, "OK, that might have meant something 408 00:18:26,040 --> 00:18:27,880 "that my dad weren't around." 409 00:18:27,880 --> 00:18:29,960 Me and my family are tight, but it was like, 410 00:18:29,960 --> 00:18:32,400 we never sat down and had dinner together. 411 00:18:32,400 --> 00:18:35,640 You said somewhere that growing up, 412 00:18:35,640 --> 00:18:37,680 your home was really just individuals 413 00:18:37,680 --> 00:18:40,400 all operating under the same roof. Yeah, 100%. 100%. 414 00:18:40,400 --> 00:18:41,880 You got to understand, like, 415 00:18:41,880 --> 00:18:44,040 even without sounding too fucking poetic, 416 00:18:44,040 --> 00:18:45,880 like, you're raised by... 417 00:18:45,880 --> 00:18:48,880 You're raised by the streets or you're raised 418 00:18:48,880 --> 00:18:51,400 by your friends, or you're raised by the oldest. 419 00:18:51,400 --> 00:18:53,000 Was it rough? 420 00:18:53,000 --> 00:18:56,560 Yeah, like, but as anywhere else was rough. 421 00:18:56,560 --> 00:18:58,000 You know what I mean, like? 422 00:18:58,000 --> 00:19:00,280 At one point, you call it "horrifying", I think, 423 00:19:00,280 --> 00:19:03,720 in a lyric or "terrifying"? Um... Crown. 424 00:19:03,720 --> 00:19:06,120 Don't comment on my culture, you ain't qualified 425 00:19:06,120 --> 00:19:08,040 Stab us in the back and then apologise 426 00:19:08,040 --> 00:19:10,160 If you knew my story, you'd be horrified. Yeah. 427 00:19:10,160 --> 00:19:12,600 "If you knew my story, you'd be horrified." Yeah. 428 00:19:12,600 --> 00:19:14,360 What did you mean by that? 429 00:19:14,360 --> 00:19:16,520 Like, I've been... 430 00:19:16,520 --> 00:19:19,560 I've been stabbed a few times, but, like, to... 431 00:19:22,440 --> 00:19:24,440 To some people, that's going to be horrifying. 432 00:19:24,440 --> 00:19:27,160 Badly, like, did you go to hospital? Yeah. 433 00:19:27,160 --> 00:19:28,360 Really?! Yeah. 434 00:19:28,360 --> 00:19:30,440 How happy are you talking about this stuff? 435 00:19:30,440 --> 00:19:32,400 Because some of it... No, I'm fine with it. 436 00:19:32,400 --> 00:19:33,560 Are you sure? Yeah, yeah. 437 00:19:33,560 --> 00:19:35,720 You got... How deep into it did you get, like...? 438 00:19:35,720 --> 00:19:37,400 I think you had some court time. Did you? 439 00:19:37,400 --> 00:19:39,280 You never actually got a custodial sentence. 440 00:19:39,280 --> 00:19:41,000 I never... No, I never went to jail. 441 00:19:41,000 --> 00:19:42,800 What was it, possession of a weapon, was it? 442 00:19:42,800 --> 00:19:44,640 Yeah, it was possession of a weapon. 443 00:19:44,640 --> 00:19:48,320 So if you'd have had a weapon, what would it have been for? 444 00:19:48,320 --> 00:19:50,000 For protection, for... 445 00:19:51,480 --> 00:19:55,120 I don't know. To feel, like, more in control. Mm-hm. 446 00:19:55,120 --> 00:19:56,600 Do you know what I mean? 447 00:19:56,600 --> 00:19:58,920 To feel more in control of, like, any situation 448 00:19:58,920 --> 00:20:01,840 that I may come across that... 449 00:20:01,840 --> 00:20:04,480 Even... Even how deep I got into it, 450 00:20:04,480 --> 00:20:07,280 I know people who got way deeper. 451 00:20:07,280 --> 00:20:10,560 Of course. I've got friends who got way deeper, way, way, way deeper. 452 00:20:10,560 --> 00:20:14,040 You go on that journey and it can lead you anywhere. 453 00:20:14,040 --> 00:20:17,960 It's a random box of prison, death. 454 00:20:19,360 --> 00:20:22,560 Become an entrepreneur because you learned to be streetwise 455 00:20:22,560 --> 00:20:24,200 and now you applied that. 456 00:20:24,200 --> 00:20:25,640 Becoming a musician. 457 00:20:25,640 --> 00:20:27,160 Becoming a footballer. 458 00:20:27,160 --> 00:20:33,320 But, of course, the most likely ones is harmed, dead or in jail, 459 00:20:33,320 --> 00:20:35,720 do you know what I mean? That's the most likely ones. 460 00:20:35,720 --> 00:20:38,800 You've said, like, you had this period of working, 461 00:20:38,800 --> 00:20:40,040 was it on an oil rig? 462 00:20:40,040 --> 00:20:42,880 Yeah, it was an oil refinery. 463 00:20:42,880 --> 00:20:46,280 I was working in quality assurance. 464 00:20:47,280 --> 00:20:49,880 What does that really mean? I couldn't fucking tell you. 465 00:20:49,880 --> 00:20:51,040 I was so bad at it. 466 00:20:51,040 --> 00:20:53,320 That was quite a big thing for you. Yeah, it was massive. 467 00:20:53,320 --> 00:20:54,520 In what way? 468 00:20:54,520 --> 00:20:57,720 I was on the ends, like, with my, 469 00:20:57,720 --> 00:20:59,240 with my brethrens. 470 00:20:59,240 --> 00:21:02,440 And then I applied for this apprenticeship 471 00:21:02,440 --> 00:21:05,280 and then I had to go to Leamington Spa. 472 00:21:05,280 --> 00:21:07,440 And then I was living with 17 other kids, 473 00:21:07,440 --> 00:21:09,400 and they were all white kids. 474 00:21:09,400 --> 00:21:15,600 They were all from Scotland, Yorkshire, Newcastle. 475 00:21:15,600 --> 00:21:19,040 I had no idea about banter or that, being... 476 00:21:19,040 --> 00:21:20,680 Just not taking myself seriously. 477 00:21:20,680 --> 00:21:23,000 I think that's the biggest thing I would say. I didn't... 478 00:21:23,000 --> 00:21:24,920 I came out of that and I didn't take myself... 479 00:21:24,920 --> 00:21:28,000 Like, I knew how to take a joke. I knew how to crack a joke. 480 00:21:28,000 --> 00:21:31,440 It helped me see people and see life 481 00:21:31,440 --> 00:21:34,680 and see there's a culture outside of my culture, 482 00:21:34,680 --> 00:21:36,280 do you know what I mean? Mm. 483 00:21:36,280 --> 00:21:39,640 Which is just always enlightening for anyone from anywhere, like, 484 00:21:39,640 --> 00:21:42,880 to come out of where they're from and to see the world. 485 00:21:42,880 --> 00:21:45,000 And, for me, it was close, because the world was just 486 00:21:45,000 --> 00:21:46,760 an hour and a half up the road. 487 00:21:46,760 --> 00:21:51,200 I think the key thing, the key thing was that time we was in Tipton 488 00:21:51,200 --> 00:21:52,280 and we was welding. 489 00:21:52,280 --> 00:21:54,760 I remember I took off my hard hat and this was probably close 490 00:21:54,760 --> 00:21:56,160 to the times where I got stabbed. 491 00:21:56,160 --> 00:21:58,360 So I took off my hard hat and someone walked past 492 00:21:58,360 --> 00:22:00,000 and was like, "Oh, what's the...?" 493 00:22:00,000 --> 00:22:01,840 ..and I used to have, it was like a long scar. 494 00:22:01,840 --> 00:22:03,760 It was like a T, like a long... 495 00:22:03,760 --> 00:22:06,280 I don't know if it's still there now, but... 496 00:22:06,280 --> 00:22:07,800 And they were, "Oh, what happened?" 497 00:22:07,800 --> 00:22:09,480 And I was like, "Oh, I got stabbed." 498 00:22:09,480 --> 00:22:11,760 Bruv, I just remember the look on all their faces 499 00:22:11,760 --> 00:22:16,200 and I remember feeling like a fucking artefact in a museum 500 00:22:16,200 --> 00:22:18,200 because I was stood... I was sat like this 501 00:22:18,200 --> 00:22:20,440 and they were all like, "What?!" 502 00:22:20,440 --> 00:22:22,320 And I remember thinking, like, 503 00:22:22,320 --> 00:22:25,960 "Bruv, this ain't that deep at all, like..." 504 00:22:25,960 --> 00:22:28,640 And they were like... And I was like, "And here..." 505 00:22:28,640 --> 00:22:30,720 and they were like, "What?!" 506 00:22:30,720 --> 00:22:33,480 And I remember... And it was kind of like a realisation, 507 00:22:33,480 --> 00:22:36,320 OK, yeah, that's not the most normal thing, innit? 508 00:22:36,320 --> 00:22:39,520 Like, as much as it's normal in our community. And it's like... 509 00:22:39,520 --> 00:22:41,240 Did you lose any friends over it? 510 00:22:41,240 --> 00:22:44,400 Over the violence, stabbing? 511 00:22:44,400 --> 00:22:47,720 Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. Did you? Yeah. Loads. Loads? Died? 512 00:22:47,720 --> 00:22:49,920 Yeah. For real? Yeah. 513 00:22:51,080 --> 00:22:53,920 Becomes normal, like, do you know what I mean? 514 00:22:55,440 --> 00:22:57,440 It's one of the things that happens. 515 00:22:57,440 --> 00:22:59,040 People pass away. 516 00:22:59,040 --> 00:23:00,720 People get harmed. 517 00:23:00,720 --> 00:23:03,840 Even, even one that we didn't always realise that. 518 00:23:03,840 --> 00:23:06,040 And we've realised that now as grown men, 519 00:23:06,040 --> 00:23:09,240 is that a lot of people lose their mental health badly as well. 520 00:23:09,240 --> 00:23:12,040 Like, as in, I've got friends that I grew up with 521 00:23:12,040 --> 00:23:16,360 where it's like, if they saw me today, they wouldn't recognise... 522 00:23:16,360 --> 00:23:19,240 As in they've, like... They've got serious mental illness? 523 00:23:19,240 --> 00:23:21,400 Yeah. Yeah. Serious mental-health issues. 524 00:23:21,400 --> 00:23:22,760 Do you think it's over trauma? 525 00:23:22,760 --> 00:23:24,520 It could be trauma. 526 00:23:24,520 --> 00:23:29,160 Sometimes people get involved in, like, the drugs that they sell. 527 00:23:29,160 --> 00:23:32,480 So even the whole idea of, like, breaking it down 528 00:23:32,480 --> 00:23:34,240 and that dissecting it for that, it's... 529 00:23:34,240 --> 00:23:36,840 That's only something that I've started doing now, as an adult, 530 00:23:36,840 --> 00:23:41,280 because it was just, like, it is what it is, isn't it? 531 00:23:41,280 --> 00:23:44,200 Like... That's amazing. 532 00:23:44,200 --> 00:23:46,000 To me, that... That is amazing. 533 00:23:46,000 --> 00:23:48,880 As much as it seemed normal then, you know, the idea 534 00:23:48,880 --> 00:23:50,960 of having multiple friends, 535 00:23:50,960 --> 00:23:53,800 you know, who you've lost to violence. 536 00:23:53,800 --> 00:23:54,960 Yeah, And I'm always... 537 00:23:54,960 --> 00:23:58,040 I think I'm just always wary and careful when I speak about it 538 00:23:58,040 --> 00:24:00,680 because it's, like, things are easy to discuss 539 00:24:00,680 --> 00:24:05,040 from the fucking suburbs, do you know what I mean? On my sofa. 540 00:24:05,040 --> 00:24:07,520 And as much as I've lived there and I've come from it, 541 00:24:07,520 --> 00:24:09,720 but it's like it's still people's lives 542 00:24:09,720 --> 00:24:12,480 and people's realities, innit? So... 543 00:24:24,840 --> 00:24:26,840 GOSPEL CHOIR SINGS 544 00:24:26,840 --> 00:24:31,000 # Hallelujah You have won... 545 00:24:31,000 --> 00:24:35,880 # You have won the victory 546 00:24:35,880 --> 00:24:40,040 # Hallelujah 547 00:24:40,040 --> 00:24:42,600 # Hallelujah 548 00:24:42,600 --> 00:24:46,080 # You've won it all for me 549 00:24:46,080 --> 00:24:50,120 # You have won it all for me 550 00:24:50,120 --> 00:24:53,040 # Death could not hold you... 551 00:24:53,040 --> 00:24:56,480 # Death could not hold you down... # 552 00:24:56,480 --> 00:24:58,400 In Camberwell, South London, 553 00:24:58,400 --> 00:25:00,880 Stormzy was at a Christian worship meeting 554 00:25:00,880 --> 00:25:05,000 he attends monthly with his Ghanaian-born mum, Abigail. 555 00:25:05,000 --> 00:25:10,160 # You are the risen King... You're seated... # 556 00:25:10,160 --> 00:25:13,000 The evenings are organised by his sister, 557 00:25:13,000 --> 00:25:14,600 the DJ, Rachael Anson. 558 00:25:16,200 --> 00:25:19,640 # You are the risen... 559 00:25:19,640 --> 00:25:23,080 # You are the risen King 560 00:25:25,920 --> 00:25:30,360 # Death could not hold you down 561 00:25:30,360 --> 00:25:33,800 # You are, you are the risen King 562 00:25:33,800 --> 00:25:37,160 # You are the risen King... # 563 00:25:39,520 --> 00:25:42,360 Stormzy told me his faith is the bedrock 564 00:25:42,360 --> 00:25:44,040 of everything he does. 565 00:25:48,280 --> 00:25:51,560 He also hosts weekly Bible study groups at his house 566 00:25:51,560 --> 00:25:54,320 and attends Sunday services in Brixton. 567 00:25:58,440 --> 00:26:02,000 # I will be content 568 00:26:02,000 --> 00:26:05,880 # In very circumstance... # 569 00:26:12,200 --> 00:26:16,600 APPLAUSE 570 00:26:20,120 --> 00:26:21,680 That was amazing, right? 571 00:26:23,800 --> 00:26:25,160 You want to share a testimony. 572 00:26:25,160 --> 00:26:28,000 If you want to just let us know how you've been feeling, 573 00:26:28,000 --> 00:26:30,240 what life's been like for you. 574 00:26:30,240 --> 00:26:32,840 WHISPERS: Oh, that's very kind. Thank you. 575 00:26:32,840 --> 00:26:36,440 I'm breaking, like, I'm breaking down. 576 00:26:36,440 --> 00:26:40,600 Due to so much things attached to me being a mum, do you understand? 577 00:26:40,600 --> 00:26:42,000 And I've seen a lot of prayer... 578 00:26:42,000 --> 00:26:44,160 I need people to pray for me, I need all the mums 579 00:26:44,160 --> 00:26:45,760 just to come out for me, please. 580 00:26:45,760 --> 00:26:47,240 Amen. 581 00:26:47,240 --> 00:26:50,960 I rate mothers more than anyone in this world, 582 00:26:50,960 --> 00:26:53,000 and especially single mothers. 583 00:26:53,000 --> 00:26:56,120 What? What you lot have to endure. 584 00:26:56,120 --> 00:27:00,040 And then you've got this whole big head that you've got to look after 585 00:27:00,040 --> 00:27:01,280 on top of yourself. 586 00:27:01,280 --> 00:27:04,000 I promise you, it gets easier. 587 00:27:04,000 --> 00:27:06,200 APPLAUSE 588 00:27:11,720 --> 00:27:13,600 Thank you for having us. No, all good, man. 589 00:27:13,600 --> 00:27:15,600 That was extraordinary. Oh, thank you, man. 590 00:27:15,600 --> 00:27:16,880 That was so lovely. 591 00:27:16,880 --> 00:27:20,000 The emotion was off the charts and the music was amazing. 592 00:27:20,000 --> 00:27:22,600 It was a real privilege to be part of that. Amen. 593 00:27:22,600 --> 00:27:26,920 I want to say a proper hello to Mike's mum, Abigail. 594 00:27:26,920 --> 00:27:28,960 So nice to meet you. Nice to meet you. 595 00:27:28,960 --> 00:27:30,600 Shed a little bit of light 596 00:27:30,600 --> 00:27:33,760 on what it was like raising Michael as a young... 597 00:27:33,760 --> 00:27:36,200 As a young man, as a boy growing up. 598 00:27:36,200 --> 00:27:38,720 Was he...? Was he always a bit special? 599 00:27:38,720 --> 00:27:40,760 Yes, he was a miracle. 600 00:27:42,640 --> 00:27:44,760 I got pregnant with him. 601 00:27:44,760 --> 00:27:46,600 I was on the pill. 602 00:27:46,600 --> 00:27:48,680 Wow! Oh, I didn't even know that. 603 00:27:48,680 --> 00:27:50,400 Of course, I never tell you. 604 00:27:50,400 --> 00:27:51,560 Really? Yes! 605 00:27:51,560 --> 00:27:53,200 We've got a world exclusive right here. 606 00:27:53,200 --> 00:27:54,480 That's a world exclusive. 607 00:27:54,480 --> 00:27:57,120 She was on the pill when she had me. 608 00:27:59,080 --> 00:28:01,720 He's so clever and talented. Mm. 609 00:28:01,720 --> 00:28:05,800 You can tell from when he was growing up. 610 00:28:05,800 --> 00:28:07,480 He was so talented. 611 00:28:07,480 --> 00:28:10,760 I remember being young and hearing my mum talk to my uncles 612 00:28:10,760 --> 00:28:13,760 and my aunties and say, "Oh, Junior, Junior's..." 613 00:28:13,760 --> 00:28:16,680 I remember a time my mum would be doing a puzzle 614 00:28:16,680 --> 00:28:18,280 in the front room. 615 00:28:18,280 --> 00:28:19,880 She says, "So, Junior, do you know, 616 00:28:19,880 --> 00:28:21,760 "will complete a puzzle in five minutes. 617 00:28:21,760 --> 00:28:23,280 "Give him any puzzle." No, no, no. 618 00:28:23,280 --> 00:28:24,800 So, you know, just subconsciously, 619 00:28:24,800 --> 00:28:27,640 I'm probably growing up thinking, "Oh, I'm lit, like." 620 00:28:27,640 --> 00:28:29,000 Do you know what I mean? So, yeah. 621 00:28:29,000 --> 00:28:30,600 That's good for your spirit, isn't it? 622 00:28:30,600 --> 00:28:32,320 That's good for your soul. 623 00:28:33,520 --> 00:28:35,680 How important is it to you to be here? 624 00:28:35,680 --> 00:28:37,280 Has this always been part of your life? 625 00:28:37,280 --> 00:28:39,400 Is this something you've discovered later in life? 626 00:28:39,400 --> 00:28:42,520 We grew up in church, so I've had faith all my life 627 00:28:42,520 --> 00:28:44,240 and I've loved God all my life. 628 00:28:44,240 --> 00:28:47,040 But I feel like you've got to come to your own realisation, innit? 629 00:28:47,040 --> 00:28:49,040 As much as you raised me in church, I've got to... 630 00:28:49,040 --> 00:28:50,600 I've got to... Know God for yourself. 631 00:28:50,600 --> 00:28:51,960 I've got to know God for myself. 632 00:28:51,960 --> 00:28:54,600 And I think during pandemic, there was a grown-man realisation, 633 00:28:54,600 --> 00:28:56,680 there was an adult realisation, innit, of that? 634 00:28:56,680 --> 00:28:58,560 "Oh, wow. This is what it means to pray. 635 00:28:58,560 --> 00:29:00,720 "This is what this scripture means." 636 00:29:00,720 --> 00:29:03,680 Literally, I was in my house by myself, with my dogs, 637 00:29:03,680 --> 00:29:05,320 out of my relationship. 638 00:29:05,320 --> 00:29:08,400 I'm... I'm not... I wasn't touring. 639 00:29:08,400 --> 00:29:10,760 I wasn't even recording at the time. 640 00:29:10,760 --> 00:29:13,200 I was just sat down. I was still. 641 00:29:13,200 --> 00:29:16,200 And even the Bible talks about stillness, I was still, 642 00:29:16,200 --> 00:29:19,200 this is where I'm meant to be around people who don't care 643 00:29:19,200 --> 00:29:22,680 about whatever it is that the world thinks I am. 644 00:29:22,680 --> 00:29:25,360 The man who I want to be is this man. 645 00:29:36,600 --> 00:29:39,520 It's funny because I've got a place down the road, 646 00:29:39,520 --> 00:29:41,720 about 20 minutes. What, another house? 647 00:29:41,720 --> 00:29:45,400 Yeah, but, like, that's where I'm going to, like, proper... 648 00:29:45,400 --> 00:29:49,120 Proper stay, and... Proper stay, as in what? Start a family? 649 00:29:49,120 --> 00:29:51,400 Yeah. Is it, is it bigger than this one? 650 00:29:51,400 --> 00:29:52,680 Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. 651 00:29:52,680 --> 00:29:53,960 Why don't you live there now? 652 00:29:53,960 --> 00:29:56,320 Because I'm totally renovating it. 653 00:29:56,320 --> 00:29:57,480 So you're doing a reno? 654 00:29:57,480 --> 00:30:00,800 Doing a reno. My first. My first proper reno. 655 00:30:00,800 --> 00:30:03,320 Is it mad? Is it fabulous? 656 00:30:03,320 --> 00:30:04,720 God willing, it will be, yeah. 657 00:30:04,720 --> 00:30:06,040 Is it huge? 658 00:30:06,040 --> 00:30:09,040 It's...it's... How many bedrooms? 659 00:30:09,040 --> 00:30:10,800 It's... 660 00:30:10,800 --> 00:30:13,480 It's nice, isn't it? Seven? Is it more than seven bedrooms? 661 00:30:13,480 --> 00:30:15,320 No, no, it's not more than seven. 662 00:30:16,880 --> 00:30:18,920 Shall we look at some of the ones through here? 663 00:30:18,920 --> 00:30:23,000 This is artwork... Platinum records. Yeah. Artwork. 664 00:30:23,000 --> 00:30:24,400 I thought... I don't know. 665 00:30:24,400 --> 00:30:25,960 It's funny cos, like... 666 00:30:25,960 --> 00:30:28,160 I don't know, if I'm being totally honest... 667 00:30:29,480 --> 00:30:31,160 I don't know, how do I explain that? 668 00:30:31,160 --> 00:30:32,840 Do you feel disconnected from it? 669 00:30:32,840 --> 00:30:35,480 I'm so proud of myself in terms of... I'm not even trying 670 00:30:35,480 --> 00:30:38,400 to denounce that, the plaques and the awards, 671 00:30:38,400 --> 00:30:40,040 but it's, like, this is very, like, 672 00:30:40,040 --> 00:30:41,640 "Yo, this is my fucking crib." Yeah. 673 00:30:41,640 --> 00:30:43,680 Like, you're... You know what I mean? Like, yeah. 674 00:30:43,680 --> 00:30:45,720 Your bachelor pad. Exactly, yeah, bachelor pad. 675 00:30:45,720 --> 00:30:48,240 Cos the home I'm building, I always say to the man, them, 676 00:30:48,240 --> 00:30:52,200 that I'm building it on family and love and God. 677 00:30:54,680 --> 00:30:57,200 CREW SPEAK INDISTINCTLY 678 00:30:58,920 --> 00:31:00,480 You're a single man. Yeah. 679 00:31:00,480 --> 00:31:02,640 You're... How old are you? 28? I'm 28, yeah. 680 00:31:02,640 --> 00:31:06,960 You're probably one of the most eligible people in the UK. 681 00:31:06,960 --> 00:31:09,840 Just talented, successful, attractive. 682 00:31:09,840 --> 00:31:12,560 You're the total package, right? Cheers, Louis. Thank you, man. 683 00:31:12,560 --> 00:31:15,680 You tick all the boxes. It's like... Thank you, man. 684 00:31:15,680 --> 00:31:18,040 Can I ask you about dating? Yeah. 685 00:31:18,040 --> 00:31:20,280 How do you do that? I don't. 686 00:31:20,280 --> 00:31:21,920 I don't really do it. 687 00:31:21,920 --> 00:31:24,440 Would you do Tinder? Like...like...the young people do? 688 00:31:24,440 --> 00:31:25,920 No, I wouldn't do fucking Tinder. 689 00:31:25,920 --> 00:31:28,720 Would you do Raya? Like, the Raya is the celebrity one, is it? 690 00:31:28,720 --> 00:31:30,520 No, I wouldn't do Raya either. 691 00:31:30,520 --> 00:31:32,080 No. 692 00:31:32,080 --> 00:31:34,600 Even the idea of, like, meeting a girl, 693 00:31:34,600 --> 00:31:36,600 and then, "Let's just go on a date. 694 00:31:36,600 --> 00:31:38,520 "Let's just go... 695 00:31:38,520 --> 00:31:39,800 "..to get some food." 696 00:31:39,800 --> 00:31:42,640 Yeah? That's, like...that's alarm bells. 697 00:31:42,640 --> 00:31:47,800 Like, any time I've had a date, we've got to go through a back door. 698 00:31:47,800 --> 00:31:49,680 You know what I mean? Through a back door... 699 00:31:49,680 --> 00:31:51,520 At the restaurant? Yeah, the restaurant. 700 00:31:51,520 --> 00:31:54,360 Not to sound naive, but what happens if you don't do that? 701 00:31:54,360 --> 00:31:59,000 Because people are going to blow up the flippin' poor girl's life. 702 00:31:59,000 --> 00:32:00,160 Do you know what I mean? 703 00:32:00,160 --> 00:32:02,880 Not in like a... Because everyone in the restaurant will clock you. 704 00:32:02,880 --> 00:32:04,920 Yeah, it's just... Do you mean they'll come over, 705 00:32:04,920 --> 00:32:06,480 or they'll hit the socials? Yeah. 706 00:32:06,480 --> 00:32:09,520 Or, like, people in the restaurant want to try and film, like. 707 00:32:09,520 --> 00:32:12,120 And I always say, that's not fair on, like, the person I'm with 708 00:32:12,120 --> 00:32:16,400 because they don't want to fucking be in the fucking tabloid tomorrow. 709 00:32:16,400 --> 00:32:18,360 Maybe they do, which is also a problem. 710 00:32:18,360 --> 00:32:20,760 That's also a fucking problem. You know what I mean, like? 711 00:32:20,760 --> 00:32:22,000 So what's the solution? 712 00:32:22,000 --> 00:32:24,560 I'm...I'm still trying to figure it out. 713 00:32:24,560 --> 00:32:26,440 I always say I just wait for God, innit? 714 00:32:26,440 --> 00:32:29,280 I'll just wait for God to, like, present me 715 00:32:29,280 --> 00:32:31,400 with my situation and my woman. 716 00:32:31,400 --> 00:32:32,560 That's a bit passive. 717 00:32:32,560 --> 00:32:34,560 Yeah, yeah, it is a bit passive, but it's like... 718 00:32:34,560 --> 00:32:36,680 Do you know what it is? I'm all out of ideas, Louis. 719 00:32:36,680 --> 00:32:39,200 If I'm honest, like, I swear to you, like, I'm out of ideas. 720 00:32:39,200 --> 00:32:41,600 Why don't you just work Tinder, and then just have a night in 721 00:32:41,600 --> 00:32:44,760 and just do it...you know, do Deliveroo and watch Netflix 722 00:32:44,760 --> 00:32:46,400 or iPlayer, or whatever. I don't know. 723 00:32:46,400 --> 00:32:48,600 Even the idea of dating, for me... 724 00:32:49,880 --> 00:32:51,760 ..it's a new thing. 725 00:32:51,760 --> 00:32:55,800 It is a new thing. Like, I didn't date before I met my...my ex. 726 00:32:55,800 --> 00:32:58,120 I didn't date before. I wasn't out here dating. 727 00:32:58,120 --> 00:33:00,360 Right. But you would have been 20 then. 728 00:33:00,360 --> 00:33:03,080 So, what about 17, 18, 19? 729 00:33:03,080 --> 00:33:06,200 17, 18, 19, I was just a...I was just a boy, 730 00:33:06,200 --> 00:33:08,480 and dating weren't even a thing, like, we was just... 731 00:33:08,480 --> 00:33:11,600 Wasn't that a thing? No, man weren't taking no girl on no fucking... 732 00:33:11,600 --> 00:33:13,160 Really? What was man doing? 733 00:33:13,160 --> 00:33:16,400 It weren't like, "Hey, baby, let's go to the fucking..." Movies? 734 00:33:16,400 --> 00:33:19,400 No, it weren't that. Cinema, maybe. 735 00:33:19,400 --> 00:33:21,240 Cinema, may... I was a boy. 736 00:33:21,240 --> 00:33:22,360 I was a boy. 737 00:33:22,360 --> 00:33:25,360 I'm just not well versed in...in the realms of love, 738 00:33:25,360 --> 00:33:26,600 relationships and dating. 739 00:33:26,600 --> 00:33:28,760 All right. How is your energy? Yeah, yeah, it's good. 740 00:33:28,760 --> 00:33:31,000 I know we're taking a lot of time. Is it good? Yeah, yeah. 741 00:33:31,000 --> 00:33:33,080 I've got a couple more questions. Are we all right? 742 00:33:33,080 --> 00:33:35,680 Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. Cos I don't I don't always get to, like, 743 00:33:35,680 --> 00:33:37,440 talk about...talk in detail. 744 00:33:38,480 --> 00:33:40,960 I mean, what's striking is that, actually, your whole story 745 00:33:40,960 --> 00:33:43,440 is really in the lyrics. Yeah. 746 00:33:43,440 --> 00:33:47,000 And I was really struck in Lay Me Bare... Yeah. 747 00:33:47,000 --> 00:33:50,240 ..how much you go into the anger that you have at your dad. 748 00:33:50,240 --> 00:33:51,280 Yeah. 749 00:33:51,280 --> 00:33:55,480 And talking about him coming to you, having not been in your life 750 00:33:55,480 --> 00:33:58,720 in any significant way growing up, when you first had success. 751 00:33:58,720 --> 00:34:00,080 He was a cab driver, right? 752 00:34:00,080 --> 00:34:01,680 Yeah. Doing his own thing. 753 00:34:01,680 --> 00:34:05,120 And he came and asked you to give him money for a car? 754 00:34:05,120 --> 00:34:07,000 Yeah. But what was the actual lyric? 755 00:34:07,000 --> 00:34:10,480 Because there's a repeated lyric. It's... It's a very powerful lyric. 756 00:34:10,480 --> 00:34:12,080 It's, um... 757 00:34:14,200 --> 00:34:16,520 Lay Me... I can't remember Lay Me Bare, sorry. 758 00:34:16,520 --> 00:34:18,600 I've got it. Have you got it? Yeah. 759 00:34:18,600 --> 00:34:21,360 Yeah, it's along the lines of, like, "Fuck you, Dad." 760 00:34:22,400 --> 00:34:24,320 Here we go. Here we go. The hidden lyrics. 761 00:34:29,120 --> 00:34:30,160 Listen. Here we go. 762 00:34:30,160 --> 00:34:31,520 I'm going to do it. 763 00:34:31,520 --> 00:34:33,120 "Like, bro, I can't believe I saw my dad 764 00:34:33,120 --> 00:34:35,000 "Still up in the ends, still driving cabs 765 00:34:35,000 --> 00:34:36,680 "He said, 'Yo, son, I need a car' 766 00:34:36,680 --> 00:34:39,280 "I kiss my teeth and turned my back 767 00:34:39,280 --> 00:34:41,120 "Like, you ain't seen my face for years 768 00:34:41,120 --> 00:34:42,840 "You ain't seen my face for time 769 00:34:42,840 --> 00:34:45,560 "And the first thing you're asking for is that? 770 00:34:45,560 --> 00:34:47,680 "Fuck you! That's where I draw the line. 771 00:34:47,680 --> 00:34:50,080 "Should have dashed through a rack like, 'Keep the change' 772 00:34:50,080 --> 00:34:51,840 "And fuck letting go, I'll keep the pain 773 00:34:51,840 --> 00:34:53,600 "23 years I'm still the same 774 00:34:53,600 --> 00:34:55,680 "When you hear this I hope you feel ashamed 775 00:34:55,680 --> 00:34:57,440 "Cah' we were broke, like, what the fuck? 776 00:34:57,440 --> 00:34:59,080 "Mum did well to hold us up 777 00:34:59,080 --> 00:35:00,920 "And yet she still forgave your arse 778 00:35:00,920 --> 00:35:03,920 "But Mumsy's cool, I'm cold as fuck 779 00:35:03,920 --> 00:35:05,800 "Fuck that! I'm still not over this 780 00:35:05,800 --> 00:35:08,440 "Fuck that! No, I'm still not over this." 781 00:35:08,440 --> 00:35:09,880 Yeah, fucking hell, that's... 782 00:35:09,880 --> 00:35:11,600 ..that's angry. 783 00:35:11,600 --> 00:35:13,600 I think the funniest lyric in that is, um... 784 00:35:15,280 --> 00:35:17,240 "Fuck letting go, I'll keep the pain." 785 00:35:17,240 --> 00:35:21,120 And it's so funny because I've always felt like that. 786 00:35:21,120 --> 00:35:25,560 like, I'm...like, I've always felt, like, this pain is mine. 787 00:35:25,560 --> 00:35:28,000 And, like, it's very right that I hold this 788 00:35:28,000 --> 00:35:29,320 because of what you've done. 789 00:35:29,320 --> 00:35:31,720 Like, as in, I have every right to hold this pain... 790 00:35:31,720 --> 00:35:34,160 Of him just not being there? Yeah. With him not being there. 791 00:35:34,160 --> 00:35:36,520 Like, I got... 792 00:35:36,520 --> 00:35:41,040 I've got a song on this album called Please, 793 00:35:41,040 --> 00:35:43,200 and it's like, "Please, Lord, give me the strength 794 00:35:43,200 --> 00:35:46,640 "To forgive my dad, for he is flawed and so am I 795 00:35:46,640 --> 00:35:48,280 "So, who am I to not 796 00:35:48,280 --> 00:35:49,680 "To not forgive a man who tries? 797 00:35:49,680 --> 00:35:51,120 "I see us so I know it cries, 798 00:35:51,120 --> 00:35:52,840 "But with this pain, I'd rather..." 799 00:35:52,840 --> 00:35:56,240 And I literally sat in the studio and I wrote, 800 00:35:56,240 --> 00:35:58,520 "But with this pain, I'd rather die." 801 00:35:58,520 --> 00:35:59,760 And then... 802 00:36:00,880 --> 00:36:04,880 ..something in me felt like I don't feel like that any more. 803 00:36:04,880 --> 00:36:06,440 Even on the track, I don't say "die". 804 00:36:06,440 --> 00:36:08,200 I say, "But with this pain, I'd rather... 805 00:36:08,200 --> 00:36:10,400 HE INHALES SHARPLY "With this pain, 806 00:36:10,400 --> 00:36:12,680 "I'd rather paint, and try and turn this broken picture 807 00:36:12,680 --> 00:36:14,160 "into something that ain't 808 00:36:14,160 --> 00:36:16,360 "This pain I'd rather hold because it made me who I am 809 00:36:16,360 --> 00:36:18,440 "It's probably time I let it go." 810 00:36:18,440 --> 00:36:21,640 Like, so even just that journey of, like, five years 811 00:36:21,640 --> 00:36:23,960 between me writing that and me writing Please, 812 00:36:23,960 --> 00:36:25,640 where I'm super understanding. 813 00:36:25,640 --> 00:36:27,640 Like, I'm like... 814 00:36:27,640 --> 00:36:31,000 My...as much as it's my dad, he's a flawed man, innit? 815 00:36:31,000 --> 00:36:35,480 I've kind of got give him the same grace that I want from the world. 816 00:36:35,480 --> 00:36:37,680 The same grace that I wanted from Maya. 817 00:36:37,680 --> 00:36:39,080 Really and truly, 818 00:36:39,080 --> 00:36:41,160 you're just a flawed man. 819 00:36:41,160 --> 00:36:42,920 And your mistake was a big one. 820 00:36:42,920 --> 00:36:45,560 You fucked up bad, like, as in you left your kids, like. 821 00:36:45,560 --> 00:36:46,840 Did he start another family? 822 00:36:46,840 --> 00:36:49,440 Yeah. I know he's really sorry. 823 00:36:49,440 --> 00:36:52,040 And, like... I was going to ask. Yeah, yeah, he's really sorry. 824 00:36:52,040 --> 00:36:54,200 He's reached out through my mum, through my sisters 825 00:36:54,200 --> 00:36:57,000 about being sorry, and he's spoken to people. 826 00:36:57,000 --> 00:36:58,600 Have you repaired the relationship? 827 00:36:58,600 --> 00:37:00,160 Not yet. Not properly. 828 00:37:00,160 --> 00:37:03,360 Like, as in my... Well, I'm going to speak out of... 829 00:37:03,360 --> 00:37:05,160 Everyone's been... 830 00:37:05,160 --> 00:37:07,200 We're going to...I'm going to speak to him, yeah. 831 00:37:07,200 --> 00:37:09,640 That's something you've been thinking about? Yeah, 100%. 832 00:37:09,640 --> 00:37:12,880 I have the power to, like, say, "I forgive you and free you 833 00:37:12,880 --> 00:37:14,720 "of all these things that you probably feel 834 00:37:14,720 --> 00:37:17,680 "because of this massive mistake you made." 835 00:37:22,960 --> 00:37:25,920 (SLOW MUSIC PLAYS) 836 00:37:39,320 --> 00:37:41,280 # It's probably best for you if 837 00:37:41,280 --> 00:37:44,560 # It's probably best for you for 838 00:37:44,560 --> 00:37:48,960 # A fire from this perfect match to burn us to the ground 839 00:37:51,440 --> 00:37:54,640 # And even though it's cold outside 840 00:37:59,400 --> 00:38:02,000 # It's probably best we pray 841 00:38:02,000 --> 00:38:04,520 # To lead us from this draw... # 842 00:38:04,520 --> 00:38:08,120 In West London, Stormzy and his team were playing me some tracks 843 00:38:08,120 --> 00:38:12,480 they said were unfinished from his upcoming third album,, 844 00:38:12,480 --> 00:38:14,760 including the opener Fire And Water. 845 00:38:14,760 --> 00:38:16,400 MUSIC: Fire And Water By Stormzy 846 00:38:39,160 --> 00:38:40,920 Yeah. That's the... Yeah. 847 00:38:40,920 --> 00:38:44,320 Ah. Yeah. That's the beginning to... APPLAUSE 848 00:38:44,320 --> 00:38:46,600 I think that one might be finished. 849 00:38:46,600 --> 00:38:48,640 LAUGHTER 850 00:38:48,640 --> 00:38:50,600 That was amazing. 851 00:38:50,600 --> 00:38:53,240 The mission for this album was so clear. 852 00:38:53,240 --> 00:38:57,520 Let's just make the most beautiful al... 853 00:38:57,520 --> 00:38:58,960 ..an album that makes you feel. 854 00:38:58,960 --> 00:39:01,120 Like, we've just got to hit them in the heartstring. 855 00:39:01,120 --> 00:39:02,440 Like, you just want to... 856 00:39:02,440 --> 00:39:04,120 We just want to make people feel, like. 857 00:39:04,120 --> 00:39:07,000 Literally, the first time I got in the studio with Kassa, 858 00:39:07,000 --> 00:39:09,680 the first chord he played was this song. 859 00:39:09,680 --> 00:39:14,000 And I'll grab this mic, and just start singing, 860 00:39:14,000 --> 00:39:15,520 or start rapping. 861 00:39:15,520 --> 00:39:19,080 And whatever comes out of me would have been... 862 00:39:19,080 --> 00:39:22,360 I would say all this album would have just been 863 00:39:22,360 --> 00:39:23,760 whatever came out straight away. 864 00:39:23,760 --> 00:39:25,600 A lot of it wouldn't have been premeditated. 865 00:39:25,600 --> 00:39:28,600 You know, obviously, people know you as having come out 866 00:39:28,600 --> 00:39:30,160 of the grime scene originally. Yeah. 867 00:39:30,160 --> 00:39:34,600 It's fair to say this album feels quite a long way from that, 868 00:39:34,600 --> 00:39:37,000 would you say? I don't think it's really a rap album, is it? 869 00:39:37,000 --> 00:39:38,280 Sonically... Not really. 870 00:39:38,280 --> 00:39:40,360 Do you know what I call it? I say it's a soul album. 871 00:39:40,360 --> 00:39:42,560 A soul album. Yeah. That's what I would think, as well. 872 00:39:42,560 --> 00:39:44,960 And even... And when I say soul album, I don't mean... 873 00:39:44,960 --> 00:39:46,840 ..I don't mean soul music. 874 00:39:46,840 --> 00:39:49,400 It's just something that's come from my soul. 875 00:39:49,400 --> 00:39:52,200 I couldn't tell you whether it's a rap album, a grime album, 876 00:39:52,200 --> 00:39:53,680 a soul album, a gospel album. 877 00:39:53,680 --> 00:39:57,200 It's just...it's...it's just a Stormz album. 878 00:39:57,200 --> 00:40:00,560 There's energies and there's attitudes 879 00:40:00,560 --> 00:40:02,800 that ain't on this album because I don't feel like that. 880 00:40:04,560 --> 00:40:06,600 I don't want to run up and smash your face. 881 00:40:06,600 --> 00:40:08,000 I don't feel like that right now. 882 00:40:08,000 --> 00:40:10,640 Obviously you do brilliant smash-your-face type lyrics, 883 00:40:10,640 --> 00:40:12,520 as well... Yeah, of course. ..on tracks. 884 00:40:12,520 --> 00:40:15,520 In fact, that's what many of your fans probably like best 885 00:40:15,520 --> 00:40:16,720 about what you do. Yeah. 886 00:40:16,720 --> 00:40:19,360 Do you ever worry that they're going to listen to this and think, 887 00:40:19,360 --> 00:40:21,960 "Hey, where's the smash-your-face-in track? I have not... 888 00:40:21,960 --> 00:40:24,480 That the... If I had the list of worries, 889 00:40:24,480 --> 00:40:27,320 that wouldn't even be on there. It wouldn't even be my last worry. 890 00:40:27,320 --> 00:40:28,680 It wouldn't be on there. 891 00:40:28,680 --> 00:40:32,320 With all this music, it's nothing to do with the listener. 892 00:40:32,320 --> 00:40:35,440 All I can do is feel what I feel and document that. 893 00:40:35,440 --> 00:40:37,440 And whatever that is, is what it's going to be. 894 00:40:37,440 --> 00:40:40,520 And I can't manipulate that in the name of anything. 895 00:40:40,520 --> 00:40:42,120 This time around, I'm like... 896 00:40:42,120 --> 00:40:44,520 ..I am the artist I've always wanted to be. 897 00:40:44,520 --> 00:40:48,480 I'm like... This is... I've made the music I've always wanted to make. 898 00:40:48,480 --> 00:40:51,520 Like, I've never been prouder of anything in my life. 899 00:40:51,520 --> 00:40:53,480 It feels like I've arrived. 900 00:40:55,080 --> 00:40:57,640 SCREAMING AND CHEERING 901 00:41:05,960 --> 00:41:09,440 In Glasgow, after his show, Stormzy came off stage 902 00:41:09,440 --> 00:41:11,760 to spend some time meeting his fans. 903 00:41:17,840 --> 00:41:20,760 He told me, in the past, he'd had a tendency to be critical 904 00:41:20,760 --> 00:41:22,080 of his performances, 905 00:41:22,080 --> 00:41:23,920 but more recently had learned 906 00:41:23,920 --> 00:41:25,880 to be less hard on himself. 907 00:41:28,200 --> 00:41:30,000 Mwah. See you, man. 908 00:41:31,360 --> 00:41:33,880 In my time with him, I'd got to know someone launched 909 00:41:33,880 --> 00:41:36,280 from the swaggering world of grime, 910 00:41:36,280 --> 00:41:39,000 achieving the highest echelons of success 911 00:41:39,000 --> 00:41:42,120 while still remaining true to where he'd come from. 912 00:41:42,120 --> 00:41:44,320 Wey! Ey! 913 00:41:44,320 --> 00:41:47,240 Whoa! Oh, my days! 914 00:41:47,240 --> 00:41:50,480 Someone still healing from aspects of his upbringing 915 00:41:50,480 --> 00:41:53,560 and on a mission to build a new life for himself. 916 00:41:53,560 --> 00:41:55,720 INDISTINCT CHATTER AND LAUGHTER 917 00:42:02,840 --> 00:42:04,600 So, what does the future hold? 918 00:42:04,600 --> 00:42:06,720 Like, do you...? Is it a plan to be kind of like... 919 00:42:06,720 --> 00:42:09,160 ..just a bit like Jay-Z, 920 00:42:09,160 --> 00:42:13,400 like a UK artist who keeps growing and...or have an empire? 921 00:42:13,400 --> 00:42:15,400 Or do you not think like that? 922 00:42:15,400 --> 00:42:17,320 The idea of a successful future for me... 923 00:42:17,320 --> 00:42:20,040 Before, I think, if you asked me this a few years ago, 924 00:42:20,040 --> 00:42:21,400 it would have been so different, 925 00:42:21,400 --> 00:42:24,320 would have been, like, man's trying to build... And it's like, no, man. 926 00:42:24,320 --> 00:42:26,720 I don't want to put that pressure on myself to build what... 927 00:42:26,720 --> 00:42:28,840 I don't even want to know what I would fucking build. 928 00:42:28,840 --> 00:42:30,960 But I know, like, I want to...I want to... 929 00:42:30,960 --> 00:42:33,160 ..I always want to be the greatest musician I can be. 930 00:42:33,160 --> 00:42:36,040 And I want to make great art, and art that moves people 931 00:42:36,040 --> 00:42:37,800 and makes people feel. 932 00:42:37,800 --> 00:42:39,640 And away from that, 933 00:42:39,640 --> 00:42:42,680 I just want to be with my family and my friends and, like... 934 00:42:42,680 --> 00:42:46,640 And I do want...I do want a family of my own, 935 00:42:46,640 --> 00:42:50,320 and I want to get married, and I want to, like, settle. 936 00:42:50,320 --> 00:42:54,600 So, my...my idea of an amazing future is, like, having my home 937 00:42:54,600 --> 00:42:58,720 and kids running around it, and my missus being there. 938 00:42:58,720 --> 00:43:01,400 The home that you're building at the moment, the reno. Yeah. 939 00:43:01,400 --> 00:43:03,920 A big thing about it is the dinner table 940 00:43:03,920 --> 00:43:05,760 because all the man, them, are going to come, 941 00:43:05,760 --> 00:43:08,200 and they're going to bring their missus, and they're going 942 00:43:08,200 --> 00:43:11,160 to bring their kids, and we're going to eat dinner on the dinner table. 943 00:43:11,160 --> 00:43:13,960 And Christmas, I've always got this thing when Christmas comes, 944 00:43:13,960 --> 00:43:17,080 I'm going to fucking...my house is going to be the Christmas house. 945 00:43:17,080 --> 00:43:18,400 You know, like, the lights, 946 00:43:18,400 --> 00:43:21,080 and everyone comes here Christmas Eve, and we've got 947 00:43:21,080 --> 00:43:23,640 a fake Santa... Yeah. ..and all the kids get presents, like. 948 00:43:23,640 --> 00:43:26,120 And at Easter, we're going to do a big fucking Easter egg hunt 949 00:43:26,120 --> 00:43:28,360 with all the kids. You know what I mean? Can I come? 950 00:43:28,360 --> 00:43:30,320 Of course you can come, Louis. Of course you can. 951 00:43:30,320 --> 00:43:33,640 I'm ready to be, like... Just like some grown man. 952 00:43:33,640 --> 00:43:35,480 Because I've been a kid for long, I think. Mm. 953 00:43:35,480 --> 00:43:38,680 Like, I've been like a kid for long. 954 00:43:38,680 --> 00:43:41,400 How are we doing? Shall we call it good? 955 00:43:41,400 --> 00:43:43,120 Is there anything else you wanted to say? 956 00:43:43,120 --> 00:43:45,720 Um, no, I don't think so. 957 00:43:48,800 --> 00:43:51,240 You know, I'm going viral on TikTok. I've heard. 958 00:43:51,240 --> 00:43:52,440 Did you know that? 959 00:43:52,440 --> 00:43:54,440 # My money don't jiggle jiggle It folds. # 960 00:43:54,440 --> 00:43:56,640 Did you write that? Oh, no. 961 00:43:56,640 --> 00:43:58,440 I thought you didn't. 962 00:43:58,440 --> 00:43:59,800 I'm not even joking. 963 00:43:59,800 --> 00:44:02,840 I've been approached by a...like, a record label or something. 964 00:44:02,840 --> 00:44:04,880 Oh, is it? They might drop it as a single. 965 00:44:04,880 --> 00:44:07,440 Is it. Are you going to do it? I don't know. 966 00:44:07,440 --> 00:44:10,040 Do you think I'd get a guest on it? 967 00:44:10,040 --> 00:44:12,440 No, I don't know. No, I think it's just you. 968 00:44:12,440 --> 00:44:14,200 If only I knew a rapper.