Stormzy, Heavy Is The Head, review: both intimate and thrilling, the rapper's second album consolidates his status as the king of grime

“I’m the king of grime by default,” Stormzy declares towards the end of his victory lap of a second album, and it’s the only time here he undersells himself. Stormzy became the king of grime by dint of his melodic talent, inclusive attitude, innate relatability and stylistic adventuring: winning Brits for Best Album and Solo Artist, headlining Glastonbury and becoming so ubiquitous that even Michael Gove feels “merky” enough to tweet his lyrics.

As his 2017 debut album Gang Signs & Prayer proved, Michael Omari’s horizons were simply broader than his peers’, and this second record is one of the most anticipated albums in UK rap because, as his sonic ambition collides with a household-name profile, its potential for remoulding and redirecting the genre is phenomenal.

In the event, Heavy Is The Head is a classic consolidation album. If you loved the way that Gang Signs… opened on rabid grime energy before making surprise excursions into R&B, gospel, soul balladry and actual singing, you’ll be well catered for here, with additional jazz lounge synths and Latino pop guitars sprinkled around for good measure.

It may be cloaked in a murky, subversive ambiance that makes many tracks sound like chart R&B being fed through a wormhole to Croydon’s darker corners, but Heavy Is The Head finds Stormzy stalking closer to mainstream acceptability. There’s even a wriggle-your-belly ragga pop tune called “Own It”, featuring a verse by Ed Sheeran that’s remarkably bright-eyed for a song about smoking dope.

Namechecking Jay-Z as an aspiration, Heavy… sticks close to hip-hop’s brag-heavy blueprint, minus the shallowness. If Stormzy’s debut was a sophisticated portrait of modern youth culture, his second dissects the triumphs and tribulations of success’s double-edged sword. No sooner has he announced his return amid horn fanfares on “Big Michael” than he’s lamenting “heavy is the head that wears the crown” on R&B piano ballad “Crown”. From there, the album goes deep on the issues that come with becoming “the voice of the young black youth”.

He boasts about his collection of Brit awards on the catchy “Rainfall” – more throb than beat – but only as a virulent comeback against the “enemies” attacking him for his success. He gets fired up about his Glastonbury headline slot on “Audacity”, but admits to the doubts about his performance that left him in tears on the night: “when Banksy put the vest on me, felt like God was testing me”.

The controversy over his appearance on the cover of a 2017 NME issue about mental health is addressed on the sombre “One Second”, where Stormzy confronts his psychological demons and concludes, “I’m not the poster boy for mental health”. And as much as he lauds the “platinum plats” he’s won, he’s brutally honest about what he’s lost, too.

“Lesson”, a jazzy loverman rap, is the heart of the album, detailing the end of a relationship with a partner who couldn’t take the limelight’s heat (his own long-term relationship with presenter and DJ Maya Jama ended this summer). Fame costs, and Stormzy’s been paying in insecurity.

Such reflective and intimate moments abound, Stormzy himself describing his more Frank Ocean interludes thus: “I ain’t spitting anymore, I rap-glide”. But there’s still enough frantic grime thrills in the carnival crackles of “Pop Boy”, featuring a laid-back verse from Aitch, and the Boris-baiting “Vossi Bop” to keep the record pumping. Most uplifting of all is “Superheroes”, Stormzy’s tribute to the next generation of grime’s “young black kings” – “all I see is innovators” he declares. On this showing, the grime dynasty clearly has even brighter days ahead.

‘Heavy Is The Head’ is out now