Stormzy

Stormzy’s ‘A Very #Merky Xmas’ Hometown Holiday Party Extravaganza Returns For The Second Year

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Stormzy Mel Made Me Do It
Andrew Timms

International musical act Stormzy (real name Michael Ebenezer Kwadjo Omari Owuo Jr.) isn’t allowing mandatory album promotion efforts to push his charitable efforts to the wayside. Instead, the grime rapper will shelve press for his new album, This Is What I Mean, at least on December 15 and 16 as he hosts the second annual “A Very #Merky Xmas” event.

The holiday party extravaganza presented by his charity, The #Merky Foundation, will be held in Stormzy’s hometown of Croydon at the Fairfield Concert Hall in South London. Across the two-day event, attendees can see live gospel performances, interactive games, and other traditional holiday activities.

Although the rapper’s friends Adele and Bree Runway won’t be making an appearance, attendees will have the chance to see musicians Guvna B, Tab Worship, Becca Folks, Called Out Music, Volney Morgan, and New Ye live on December 15 hosted by Cassandra Maria and Muyiwa Olarewaju from Premier Gospel Radio.

The second day’s (December 16) activities include a Santa’s workshop tour, face painting, competitive tombola playing, and more. Despite Stormzy’s explicit lyrics, the event is described as children-friendly, welcoming kids aged 6 and above when accompanied by an adult. On December 16, the venue will welcome festive activities, including Santa’s grotto, face painting, tombola, and more.

If you are a Croydon resident, click here to request a ticket to this year’s event. There is a four-ticket limit per household. To learn more about the #Merky Foundation, click here.

Stormzy Drops The Powerful Single ‘Mel Made Me Do It’ Along With A Star-Studded Video

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Stormzy released Heavy Is The Head, his sophomore album, in December 2019. With his first solo single in three years, the UK grime pioneer is putting everyone on notice that he still wears the crown. Produced by Knox Brown and mixed by MixedByAli, “Mel Made Me Do It” arrived Friday (September 23). “I been the GOAT so long, I guess it’s not exciting when I win,” Stormzy spits in the opening line. And the flex only gets stronger from there.

The cinematic KLVDR-directed music video spans nearly 11 minutes and packs in over 30 cameos, including Dave, Ian Wright, Jose Mourinho, Stylo G, and Usain Bolt. 90 seconds in, we’re transported to a fictional talk show aptly titled Mel Made Me Do It hosted by Jonathan Ross and Zeze Mills. Stormzy is their guest alongside British sprinter Dina Asher-Smith and journalist Louis Theroux (aka the “My Money Don’t Jiggle Jiggle” guy). Ross asks Stormzy what’s on his mind, which launches him back into his braggadocios bars: “Any time I do a big flex, just ignore me / N****s wanna hear my side of the story / N****s wanna hear a n**** chat like it’s Maury / F*ck that, you n****s better bask in my glory.”

Midway through, Stormzy is flanked by Mourinho. He delivers the line, “I prefer not to speak like I’m Jose.” The former Chelsea and Manchester United manager puts his finger over his mouth famous as audio cuts in of his famous quote, “I prefer not to speak. If I speak, I am in big trouble.”

Despite all the clever references and name-drops, the song’s inspiration is singular and simple. According to press release, “Mel Made Me Do It” is “a direct reference to the influence of his long-time personal stylist, Melissa’s Wardrobe.” Her appearance in the video comes roughly one minute before a soul-stirring monologue about Black excellence written by Wretch 32 is narrated off-camera by Michaela Coel, the Emmy-winning creator and star of I May Destroy You.

Over the summer, Stormzy received an honorary doctorate from the University Of Exeter for “outstanding achievements in the field of higher education philanthropy and widening participation.” If anything, “Mel Made Me Do It” reaffirms that he’s more locked into his greater purpose than ever.

Watch the powerful video above.

Stormzy is a Warner Music artist. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.

Stormzy Went On Sky Sports To Share His Thoughts On Cristiano Ronaldo: ‘Let The GOAT Be The GOAT’

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Manchester United is coming off a triumphant Premier League win against Liverpool on Monday Night Football this week. The Red Devils (who are not being bought by Elon Musk) claimed goals from Jadon Sancho and Marcus Rashford, while holding strong following a late goal from Liverpool’s Mo Saleh to win 2-1, and noted Man U supporter, Stormzy, was in attendance. The star British rapper was hanging out on the pitch following the match when the Sky Sports postgame team grabbed his attention, spontaneously put a mic in his hands, and had Stormzy join the broadcast to talk about the win and his thoughts on Cristiano Ronaldo.

“Sorry, I’m a bit flustered right now,” he admitted with a laugh. “We was walking past, we were starstruck and somebody gave me a mic and now I’m here. Like, ‘Mom I made it!’” With his three nephews by his side, the crew asked him how he was feeling about the team’s performance. “That was amazing. That’s the best we’ve been this season….the best we’ve been for a long time,” he said before the subject turned to Cristiano Ronaldo and the hosts asked Stormzy what he thought about him. Considering Stormzy is one of the best in his craft as well, he gave an excellent answer that felt like it was meant to silence critics and pundits: “When you’re that great, you can’t speak on him. You just gotta let the man be great. That’s the GOAT. You gotta let the GOATs be the GOATs, man. You know what I mean?”

Stormzy’s disposition was all class. He was beyond hyped to be on the television broadcast with his nephews, adding, “This is sick though. Mans on telly with the boys! You made my whole year with this.”

Watch Stormzy’s full appearance on Sky Sports’ Monday Night Football above.

Stormzy Was Adorably Excited To Meet ‘The Simpsons’ Legend Nancy Cartwright, The Voice Of Bart

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Stormzy O2 Arena London 2022
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As a voice actor, it’s very often the case that your work can be beloved all while fans of it have no idea who you are. There are a select few, though, whose characters and filmography are so legendary that they’ve transcended the relative anonymity that usually comes with the territory of voice acting. One of the best examples is the primary voice cast of The Simpsons, who have been portraying iconic Springfield residents for over 30 years now.

Stormzy is familiar with that crew, as he recently met Nancy Cartwright (who most notably voices Bart Simpson) and was absolutely over the moon when he first laid eyes on the TV icon.

As NME notes, Cartwright was on hand for one of Ed Sheeran’s recent Wembley Stadium shows, which took place from June 24 to July 1. Now, Cartwright has shared a video of herself running into Stormzy in some sort of backstage area at one of those London concerts. When Stormzy spotted her, he excitedly stopped in his tracks and paced around the room before giving her a big hug, all of this to the delight of Cartwright. After calling Cartwright a “legend,” Stormzy put down his drink with a sense of urgency and insisted he needed a photo of the two of them together.

Sharing the video, Cartwright wrote, “I loved surprising Stormzy, Bart’s new BFF.”

Check out the video above.

Some artists covered here are Warner Music artists. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.

Stormzy Joins The Graduating Class Of The University Of Exeter With An Honorary Doctorate

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Stormzy has accomplished a lot in a relatively short amount of time. In addition to rising to the forefront of the UK rap scene, winning Best Grime Act MOBO Awards in back-to-back years, earning the first UK Albums Chart No. 1 for a grime album in 2017 with his debut album Gang Signs & Prayer, winning British Album of the Year at the 2018 Brit Awards, and headlining Glastonbury in 2019, Stormzy has just reached an even rarer height, receiving an honorary doctorate from the University of Exeter recognizing his “outstanding achievements in the field of higher education philanthropy and widening participation”.

Stormzy has been an advocate for change in Great Britain since the beginning of his career, pushing against racial injustice and engaging in philanthropy and activism, funding the Stormzy Scholarship for Black UK Students at the University Of Cambridge.

At the ceremony where he was awarded his honorary doctorate and addressed the graduating class, Stormzy said:

“The journey I took to get to this moment has been considerably different to yours. You guys have the guts and the grit and the dedication that it takes to study for years and to finish your degree…whereas I got my AS results in my first year of college and said yeah, see you later. I didn’t have the same minerals that you guys have. A year later I took another swing at my A levels at a different college…until I sat down for my English exam in January and walked out after 10 minutes.

It took a hell of a lot for you to get here today. Your journeys to get to this moment were hard-fought. The road you took was not easy. And this is coming from someone who tried to walk that exact same road and failed. So from the bottom of my heart I say congratulations, well done and you should all be so proud of yourselves, what you have achieved is incredible. Don’t let anybody downplay it and don’t let anybody undermine it. If you are sat in this room today you are worthy and you are brilliant.”

You can watch Stormzy’s speech in the recorded ceremony above, at around 1:10:00.

Mad Cool Adds Jack White, London Grammar, Stormzy, And More To Complete An Insane Lineup

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Jack White TOP
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Coming into its fifth anniversary, Madrid’s Mad Cool Festival is already one of the biggest music festivals in Europe, bringing nearly 200,000 revelers to the sprawling Valdebebas urban open space venue. The initial 2022 lineup was announced in June and was heavy on the rock and roll acts with Metallica, Muse, The Killers, Imagine Dragons, Pixies, Faith No More, Twenty One Pilots, and Placebo leading the way.

They took it a step further in October adding a fifth day to the summer fest and artists like Haim, Florence + The Machine, and Nathy Peluso. Now they’ve beefed the lineup up one final time adding Jack White as the fifth day headliner and infusing the lineup with more big name acts like Stormzy, London Grammar, Modest Mouse, Two Door Cinema Club, Local Natives, and Mura Masa.

It brings the grand total to 144 artists playing across the festival’s five nights. Other artists playing on this comprehensive bill include St. Vincent, The War On Drugs, Beabadoobee, Arlo Parks, Phoebe Bridgers, Leon Bridges, Animal Collective, Tinashe, Glass Animals, Carly Rae Jepsen, Chvrches, Wolf Alice, and loads more.

Mad Cool Festival festival goes down from July 6 to 10, 2022. Tickets are on-sale here.

Mad Cool Festival Poster
Mad Cool

Some artists covered here are Warner Music artists. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.