Stormzy has been secretly working on his first album in four years.
The 32-year-old rapper – whose real name is Michael Owuo Jr. – released three records, Gang Signs and Prayer (2017), Heavy is the Head (2019) and This Is What I Mean (2022), in five years before stepping back from music to focus on acting, but he’s now working hard at Metropolis Studios in West London and plans to celebrate British musicians with his upcoming album.
A source told The Sun newspaper’s Bizarre column: “For this record, Michael has decided to celebrate the wealth of amazing music talent we have in the UK.
“As well as working with established stars, he is using the record to work with emerging talent. He loves to shine a light on how brilliant they are. The process has been really collaborative and Michael is loving the journey.
“It’s great to see him making magic again.
“The songs that are coming out of the studio sessions sound really exciting.
“It’s an ambitious project and it’s going better than anyone could have expected.”
Last year, Stormzy took on his first lead role as Tenzman in 24-minute short film Big Man, and previously admitted he struggled to distance himself from his character.
He told BBC Newsbeat: “It was really tough if I’m honest.
“It felt like I’m playing a rapper but I am a rapper, it’s tough to totally separate.”
Big Man is the first release from Stormzy’s #MerkyFilm production company, and the rapper has revealed his long-term ambition for the enterprise.
He shared: “What we’ve tried to do at Merky, whether it’s music, sports, whatever, we do we just want to stand in our truth, tell our stories, but also not from the same perspective that it’s always been told from.
“Even being black British, it’s such a nuanced experience – you’ve got the black experience, you’ve got the British experience, and then you’ve got the black British experience.
“We want to tell it from our perspective which is nuanced, it’s brilliant, it’s different, it’s not always the same, it’s not a monolith.”
Stormzy felt “challenged” while making the movie, but he still enjoyed the creative process.
The Vossi Bop hitmaker said: “It was really tough but it was a challenge I was so honoured to be a part of.
“I like to be challenged, I like to be a bit uncomfortable so I love it.”