Stormzy- 'Gang Signs & Prayer' Album Review

Stormzy- ‘Gang Signs & Prayer’

The grime resurgence of the last year seems to not be slowing down one iota in 2017. This year has already seen outstanding albums from Wiley (‘Godfather’) & Nines (‘One Foot Out’), truly displaying the fact that this genre is here to stay at the forefront of British culture. The latest offering sees Michael Omari (better known as Stormzy) release his much anticipated debut album ‘Gang Signs & Prayer’. Omari hid in the wilderness for the last year, ditching his social media accounts to focus solely on ensuring that his debut record would be something to remember, and to be fair to the South London MC, he has met this objective.

Stormzy has always been regarded for his lyrical ability ever since he released ‘Shut Up’ and ‘WickedSkengMan Part 4’ way back in 2015. The success of these two singles cannot be underestimated, they held a DIY, low budget vibe which, when paired with Stormzy’s bars, took the grime scene by storm and Omari was suddenly a huge star. This is something referred to by Omari on track two ‘Cold’ in which he says “I just went to the park with my friends, and I charted”, effectively displaying the surprise he had from the achievement of beating X Factor in the 2015 xmas charts and unexpectedly being placed in the public eye.

Many people are under the impression that grime is a particularly aggressive style of music, and in many ways it can feel that way. However, on this debut effort, Stormzy has successfully manipulated this genre to make it his own. Tracks like ‘Velvet’, ‘Cigarettes & Kush’, & ‘Lay Me Bare’ incorporate low-key beats combined with Stormzy’s bars which overall gives the sound of these particular tracks a much more wholesome sound which is scarcely found in the grime scene. Omari also displays his somewhat surprising singing ability on gospel inspired track ‘Blinded by Your Grace, Pt.1’, again twisting this genre for all that it is worth. The song ends up being surprisingly moving and emotional, something which I was not expecting to hear from this album, however it culminates in a superb genre-bending song which gently flows its way through the spine of this record. Tracks like ‘First Things First’, ‘Cold’ & ‘Big For Your Boots’ are stereotypical for this genre. Hard hitting trap styled beats with violent sounding lyrics which follow the simple trajectory of grime, yet still go a long way to making this album extremely strong in sound.

Stormzy has also effectively incorporated guest spots on ‘Gang Signs & Prayer’. He could’ve gone down the easy route and used features from fellow grime artists, you know the typical Wiley, Skepta, JME guest spots that sound good, yet become a bit tiresome when you hear them on everyone grime record. However, Omari was brave. His debut album features R’n’B American singer Kehlani (‘Cigarettes & Kush’), pop singer-songwriter MNEK (‘Blinded by Your Grace, Pt.2) & soul/hip hop fellow Londoner Raleigh Ritchie (‘Don’t Cry for Me’) and these features aid this album to become something that still sounds like the grime we are all accustomed to, whilst also sounding like something that is incredibly unfamiliar.

Overall, ‘Gang Signs & Prayer’ is a solidly good debut album from Stormzy. It’s in no way perfect, for one it’s slightly too long and this results in a dip in quality at certain points, and also certain tracks just end up sounding a bit lazy. But, Omari’s ambitiousness on this debut effort is something that needs to be applauded and acknowledged, particularly when you take in account his relative youth (he’s only 23). Stormzy already has a huge sold-out tour coming up, including a 3 night residence at the O2 Academy in Brixton, and ‘Gang Signs & Prayer’ is bound to increase his status as one of the top-dogs of his genre.

Overall Rating- 8/10

Fave Songs- ‘First Things First’, ‘Cold’, ‘Big for Your Boots’, ‘Blinded by Your Grace, Pt.1’, ‘Mr Skeng’, ‘Cigarettes & Kush’, ‘Lay Me Bare’

Least Fave Songs- ‘Bad Boys’, ‘100 Bags’, ‘Don’t Cry for Me’

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