Stormzy thanked his fans for supporting his music with a free pop-up gig at BOXPARK Croydon.
The 26-year-old rapper returned to his hometown to thank his loyal fans for getting his second album ‘Heavy Is The Head’ to number one with his surprise show at the venue in South London.
The grime artist performed fan favourite tracks, including ‘Vossi Bop’ and ‘Blinded By Your Grace’, and teased his upcoming single ‘Still Disappointed’ by dropping a few bars from the song, and he also spent time talking to his fans and posing for photos.
Speaking at the event on Sunday (19.01.20), Stormzy said: "It’s a real blessing from god to have my career – I thank and appreciate everyone in here. The kind of career I’ve had, I owe to you guys.
"A free show is the least I can do for my fans and I wish I could shower you all individually with love. Thank you for allowing me to be the artist I am and for allowing me to be the top of my game."
News of the surprise gig first circulated when the grime artist took to social media on Saturday (18.01.20) to tease his set, announcing the location will be revealed the following day.
Over 1,200 fans rushed to the venue queuing to see Stormzy shortly after 4pm.
Meanwhile, Stormzy has "made peace" with the fact he is an "annoyance" to the grime stars who came before him.
The ‘Crown’ hitmaker – who has recently been embroiled in a feud with ‘Godfather of Grime’, Wiley, which saw the pair trade insults on social media and on diss tracks – has admitted that he can see why his predecessors on the scene might be "resistant" towards him, because he’s fronting the genre which they helped pioneer from the ground up.
He said: "I think I am just a natural annoyance. He genuinely feel like a lot of the older MCs … Even Wiley said it on a lyric, on one of his dubs. I reap the success. I reap a lot of their success. So for example, the awards, the plaques, the amount of records I sell and the places I am in, these artists couldn’t be in. I am not even saying that [in a disrespectful way].
"Even whoever comes after me in like 10/15 years, God-willing, I am going to think, ‘Flipping heck. I could never have done that, man could never do this.’ "
Stormzy surprises fans with free gig at BOXPARK Croydon
