British singer-songwriter Stormzy didn’t take ten years to transition from the stage underground grime to the biggest musical stages in the country, and this third album of his career has all the allures of the work which, he hopes, will cement his place in the history of English pop, with blows of seductive soulful refrains. gospel. Stormzy sings almost as much as he raps, and does it with conviction, for a long time. Fire + Water in overture to the elegiac Bad Blood at the end of the album. Emanating from this confessional fresco is the image of a mature artist who talks about his doubts and his delicate personal relationships, as on the splendid Need You, on an Afrobeat rhythm by Juls, the scene’s leading composer (Nigerian stars Tems, Oxlade, Teni and Ayra Starr also collaborate on the album). Between these sweets, the bravado sometimes returns at a gallop, on the hard-hitting title song and My Presidents Are Blackwhere he mocks domestic politics and racism within the music industry.
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