Stormzy: “I’m Even More Fearless”
Stormzy has spoken about his future plans, creativity and his connection to his African roots in a new interview with Dazed.
When asked how his age has affected his creativity, the rapper was adamant that his increased years have improved his work. “I think now even creatively nothing has changed,” he said. “I think maybe now I’m even bolder, and I’m even braver, and I’m even more fearless. But I’ve always been that… I’m all those things but with maturity.”
The rapper later revealed that he is open-minded when it comes to following up his hugely successful 2022 album, This Is What I Mean. “All I know is that the next chapter for me includes music, but other than that?” he says, “I don’t know. It’s the most beautiful ‘I don’t know’… There’s no confusion in where I should be and who I should be. It’s like ‘God, I’m ready to do the work here on Earth, you just guide it.’”
He also reflected on how things have changed since making his debut album, “This artist and the artist who made Gang Signs & Prayer are so different, but they are exactly the fucking same,” he said. “GS&P Stormz and 2023 Stormz, neither of them gives a fuck about pleasing someone’s appetite. Not in an ignorant way, [but] because it’s coming from a real, genuine place in [my] spirit.”
Stormzy went on to enthuse about African music and reflected on his music appearing on the soundtrack of Black Panther: Wakanda Forever. “People are just being unapologetic in their Blackness and it’s the greatest music on Earth right now,” he enthused. “The greatest music on Earth is coming out of Africa. Even that is just inspiring: be your Black self. And look! It’s got the world on fire. I’ll tell my kids I was a part of this time in culture. I had an offering. I was here; I was a part of it.”
Stormzy will play London’s All Points East festival on 18 August, tickets are available here.