Grime is a very new genre to me. In fact, it was just last year that I actually sat down and listened to a full Grime LP, Skepta's Konnichiwa, an album I actually like a lot. Since then, I've been keeping my ears to the Grime scene and while LP's from OG's like Wiley have been good this year, newcomer Stormzy really caught my attention with this new album, his full length debut, titled Gang Signs & Prayer. If I had to explain why this caught my attention, I'd have to say it's because Stormzy, unlike a lot of the Grime that I've been exposed to, is willing to slow things down and do and R&B song, something he does a fair bit on this album. Sure, that may come off as a sort of Drake thing to do, but in my opinion, Stormzy uses these slower moments to be more introspective about more than just relationships, and never comes off as whiny or pretentious.
In fact, Stormzy sounds very genuine on this album; aside from some tough guy posturing, something that is very common in Grime, Stormzy actually tells a lot of personal and compelling stories on this album. From the general struggle of trying to make it in a scene that can be very elitist, to dealing with depression, Stormzy manages to balance the hard-nosed attitudes and sounds of typical Grime with a more soulful, often beautiful R&B side.
The LP opens up with 3 back to back bangers, finest among them is "Bad Boys" which features a moody beat and plenty of fast flows from Stormzy, who may not have the most distinctive rapping voice, but still manages to imbue his tracks with enough personality to make him worthwhile. And his singing voice, something that a lot of rappers attempt to have, is actually really nice, it has a great, deep, husky quality to it, and he has really good control of pitch. For example, the simple but effective "Blinded By Your Grace, Pt 1" showcases his talent for singing perfectly, as well as cuts like "Velvet" and "Cigarettes and Cush".
If there's one major drawback to this album is that I feel like it is a bit on the long side. At 16 tracks, I feel like the album could of easily been 12, cutting out some of the more redundant moments like "100 Bags" or "Shut Up". Also, while I do appreciate the alternating between hard and soft styles, the structure does become unbalance in the middle with three straight soft tracks back to back which makes the album feel a little inconsistent.
However, despite these issues, Gang Signs & Prayer is a great debut from an artist that I can easily see becoming one of the top new faces in Grime. Definitely check it out.
8.2/10
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