Stormzy doesn’t believe the level of knife crime in the UK cannot be fixed by rappers alone, and insists he’s talking from experience.
The 25-year-old, who released his latest song Vossi Bop today, addressed the issue as it was revealed this week that homicides in England and Wales are the highest they’ve been in a decade as knife crime soars.
Speaking on Kiss Breakfast today, the grime rapper said: ‘Yeah, I think, the knife crime conversation is a very, very, very a very big conversation …
‘I grew up in the hood, but growing up where we grew up, you understand that it’s a bigger problem than like a big rapper saying, oh kids put the knives down.’
When talking about the root of the cause, Stormzy said that he believes there are multiple factors to the recent spike of violence.
‘There are so many different dynamics to the problem that need to be dealt with on a deeper level than a song … So that’s why I always try and focus my energy into the actual,’ he concluded.
The Blinded By Your Grace rapper’s interview comes after he pleased waiting for fans with his first music video since December 2017.
His second album – to follow February 2017’s Gang Signs & Prayer – is expected to be released later this year, with many people expecting an album drop around the time of his big headline slot at this year’s Glastonbury Festival.
After promising fans this week that new music would finally arrive today, Stormzy has now released the fiery Vossi Bop – named after a viral dance made famous by the person behind the long-suspended Twitter account @NL_Vossi.
The track sees Stormzy firing off lines about Idris Elba being Bond and chilling in Dubai, while also reserving no praise whatsoever for the government or one Boris Johnson.
The accompanying video for Vossi Bop was filmed in London and sees Stormzy takes centre stage on a deserted Westminster Bridge.
The new song and video come in the wake of the Big For Your Boots rapper receiving support from Snowbombing festivalgoers in Austria after he cancelled his performance over alleged ‘racial-profiling’
The star was expected to perform at the annual music festival two weeks ago, but organisers announced he would no longer be appearing.
Attendees who travelled all the way from the UK have said that ‘something had to happen’ despite missing out on seeing him hit the stage because he was ‘well within his right.’
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