Album Review: Stormzy - Heavy Is The Head
This is my first album review blog and my wife has chosen Stormzy's 2nd album Heavy Is The Head for me. A big of information about the album before I review it. This is Stormzy's highly anticipated follow up to his number 1 platinum selling 2017 debut Gang Signs and Prayers. It was released 13th December last year, it is already gold certified for sales and closed last year as the 58th best selling album after 2 weeks! So far the album has spawned 5 top 10 singles with a 6th hitting the top 40, of these 2 have now gone number 1.
Now if you've read my previous blog post you'll know I love Stormzy and if you haven't then I love Stormzy, ever since I first heard Know Me From I've been a fan and I am so glad he has become popular, admittedly I never thought he'd be as popular as he has been, especially given that a lot of grime artist that I also love haven't had the same success consistently. I'm talking Wiley, Skepta, JME, Lady Leshurr, Bugzy Malone etc.
I really enjoy listening to this album, it definitely lives up to the expectations I had for it. Not only are all the songs great to listen to, there is a flow to the album that makes it so easy to listen to and the content is exactly what we have come to expect from Stormzy. It's also the type of music you can listen to while doing almost anything, I've managed to cook and work out to it easily and my wife even managed to write half a blog while listening to it (she normally listens to murder podcasts).
When I first looked at the featured artists on this album I was a little sceptical as some I'm not overly keen on, Headie One and H.E.R are the culprits here, however I found that the collaborations worked really well, it was almost as if Stormzy improved their performances. You will see when I rate each track just how impressed I was with these collaborations.
My favourite track on the album is actually a collaboration, it is Pop Boy ft Aitch. There are many reasons why this song is my favourite, let's start with the fact that Stormzy and Aitch not only blend well but also bounce off each other, you can hear that they enjoyed writing and recording this together. It's one of those collaborations that just works really well and it sounds effortless which makes it more pleasing to listen to. The flow of the song is another great aspect, this will likely come from the fact it works so well and sounds effortless that the flow is so smooth, the transition from Stormzy's first verse into a chorus of the two artists rapping together then into Aitch's verse. The content may not be the most original as it is a slightly braggy song about the fact that both artists are enjoying a lot of success in a relatively short amount of time and refer to themselves as 'top boy' for most of the song, then change it to pop boy when referencing that they are 'poppin'' and there is still more to come so imagine how successful we can be in the future. This is directly referenced my Aitch when he raps 'see what I've done in one year, imagine two' (referencing his 3 top 10s and feature on a remix of Take Me Back To London by Stormzy and Ed Sheeran that went to number 1) and Stormzy references how his continued success is evolving his sound but incorporating his older sound 'I'm just cookin' up some flavor then I mix it ... So it's old flows, new flows'. However the way they pull off the song makes it work so well and captivate so much that it's always the song I have stuck in my head afterwards.
Another couple of songs that deserve a mention as they are close seconds are Crown and Vossi Bop, i just really enjoy these songs for the flows, lyrics and styles, being different and showing off all of Stormzy's strengths. Where Vossi Bop is all rap with a politically charged message included and references to relationships and musical success it covers a lot in a short space of time, to his writing credit. Crown is more of an even split of rapping and singing bringing the soulful sound that we got on Blinded By Your Grace, I love hearing the mix of his rapping and singing, with the content including very open references to his faith and how that helps ground him and he prays for his continued success which will help him support his family as much as himself.
Finally I will end with my ratings for each song;
1. Big Michael 7/10
2. Audacity ft Headie One 8.5/10
3. Crown 9/10
4. Rainfall ft Tiana Major9 8/10
5. Rachael's Little Brother 8.5/10
6. Handsome 7.5/10
7. Do Better 8.5/10
8. Don't Forget To Breathe (Interlude) ft Yebba 7/10
9. One Second ft H.E.R. 8.5/10
10. Pop Boy ft Aitch 9.5/10
11. Own It ft Ed Sheeran & Burna Boy 8/10
12. Wiley Flow 8/10
13. Bronze 8/10
14. Superheroes 8.5/10
15. Lessons 7.5/10
16. Vossi Bop 9/10
I would love to know which track is your favourite...
If you would like to buy Heavy Is The Head or even Gang Signs & Prayer, feel free to use the link below
*affiliatelink
Now if you've read my previous blog post you'll know I love Stormzy and if you haven't then I love Stormzy, ever since I first heard Know Me From I've been a fan and I am so glad he has become popular, admittedly I never thought he'd be as popular as he has been, especially given that a lot of grime artist that I also love haven't had the same success consistently. I'm talking Wiley, Skepta, JME, Lady Leshurr, Bugzy Malone etc.
When I first looked at the featured artists on this album I was a little sceptical as some I'm not overly keen on, Headie One and H.E.R are the culprits here, however I found that the collaborations worked really well, it was almost as if Stormzy improved their performances. You will see when I rate each track just how impressed I was with these collaborations.
My favourite track on the album is actually a collaboration, it is Pop Boy ft Aitch. There are many reasons why this song is my favourite, let's start with the fact that Stormzy and Aitch not only blend well but also bounce off each other, you can hear that they enjoyed writing and recording this together. It's one of those collaborations that just works really well and it sounds effortless which makes it more pleasing to listen to. The flow of the song is another great aspect, this will likely come from the fact it works so well and sounds effortless that the flow is so smooth, the transition from Stormzy's first verse into a chorus of the two artists rapping together then into Aitch's verse. The content may not be the most original as it is a slightly braggy song about the fact that both artists are enjoying a lot of success in a relatively short amount of time and refer to themselves as 'top boy' for most of the song, then change it to pop boy when referencing that they are 'poppin'' and there is still more to come so imagine how successful we can be in the future. This is directly referenced my Aitch when he raps 'see what I've done in one year, imagine two' (referencing his 3 top 10s and feature on a remix of Take Me Back To London by Stormzy and Ed Sheeran that went to number 1) and Stormzy references how his continued success is evolving his sound but incorporating his older sound 'I'm just cookin' up some flavor then I mix it ... So it's old flows, new flows'. However the way they pull off the song makes it work so well and captivate so much that it's always the song I have stuck in my head afterwards.
Another couple of songs that deserve a mention as they are close seconds are Crown and Vossi Bop, i just really enjoy these songs for the flows, lyrics and styles, being different and showing off all of Stormzy's strengths. Where Vossi Bop is all rap with a politically charged message included and references to relationships and musical success it covers a lot in a short space of time, to his writing credit. Crown is more of an even split of rapping and singing bringing the soulful sound that we got on Blinded By Your Grace, I love hearing the mix of his rapping and singing, with the content including very open references to his faith and how that helps ground him and he prays for his continued success which will help him support his family as much as himself.
Finally I will end with my ratings for each song;
1. Big Michael 7/10
2. Audacity ft Headie One 8.5/10
3. Crown 9/10
4. Rainfall ft Tiana Major9 8/10
5. Rachael's Little Brother 8.5/10
6. Handsome 7.5/10
7. Do Better 8.5/10
8. Don't Forget To Breathe (Interlude) ft Yebba 7/10
9. One Second ft H.E.R. 8.5/10
10. Pop Boy ft Aitch 9.5/10
11. Own It ft Ed Sheeran & Burna Boy 8/10
12. Wiley Flow 8/10
13. Bronze 8/10
14. Superheroes 8.5/10
15. Lessons 7.5/10
16. Vossi Bop 9/10
I would love to know which track is your favourite...
If you would like to buy Heavy Is The Head or even Gang Signs & Prayer, feel free to use the link below
*affiliatelink
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