This powerful follow-up to Gang Signs & Prayer is a grandstanding, soul-searching bid to crack the US – without losing that pugnacious south London voice.
Stormzy realizes his pop rap ambitions on Heavy Is the Head.
If Heavy Is The Head is one thing, it’s aware of its own worth. It doesn’t need me to tell you that.
The labyrinthine complexities of human nature are explored here in all their grit and glory, but it’s the combination of Stormzy’s charm and his knack for storytelling that allows ‘H.I.T.H’ to glimmer with a universal appeal that will please both his mainstream audience and grime fans of old; an almost impossible task that he’s amazingly pulled off.
Stormzy delivers one of the most introspective and prayerful works of the year, solidifying his elite status in hip-hop.
Stormzy isn’t aiming to be the biggest name in grime, or UK rap, or indeed even be one of the biggest UK artists; Heavy Is The Head is him trying to go for everything and become the sort of culture-defining talent that only pops up a couple of times in a generation.
More enjoyable overall than Gang Signs, Heavy Is the Head is a well-rounded mix of toughness and sentimentality, and another rightful triumph.
The 16-track Heavy Is the Head comprises a mix of snapping bangers and reflective slow jams.
A solid album but also not a surprising one.
While HITH sees Stormzy navigate second album syndrome with apparent ease, it also leaves open the question of where he goes from here.
The fondness for schmaltz gets a bit overwhelming, and the album is only great in patches.
Brittish rap be like:
https://youtu.be/JWxYFXCInbg?si=S4JC3nwlTKF7XaC2
Solid raps from Bri'ish rapper. Stormzy is 30 year old rapper with Ghanian roots. Since 2010, he started to rap and release his freestyles on the internet. In 2014, he gained attention from UK underground scene. After releasing few singles in span of 3 years, he finally released his debut album "Gang Signs & Prayer". This album debuted on no.1 in UK. After 2 years of not releasing his solo material, he returned ... read more
This is a solid album. It has a nice sound to it. It has nice flows. And it is just a good rap album. Good stuff. The production is really nice to. It's a likable album in general
Big Michael: 67/100 (Decent)
I DO NOT like the flow on the first part of the track. It's like he can't write a full song so he writes half of it and stretch it out. The beat is a SLAP though
Audacity (feat. Headie One): 65/100 (Decent)
I liked it a lot at first but then it just kept going.
Crown: 83/100 ... read more
I’ve never really gotten into Stormzy’s music, or UK Grime in general. But after seeing Fantano’s positive review, I decided to give this a listen, and I’m pleasantly surprised.
The production on here is pretty good, and I love the shifts from genre to genre on here. This album doesn’t have one specific sound and I think that helps it tremendously. I also think Strormzy is a very good rapper. His more aggressive rap tracks are more interesting to me than the pop ... read more
Wiley Flow was great, but the rest of the album is a bore. Btw this is not grime. Stormzy has never released a grime album, stop calling him grime, you idiots.
Stornzy deserves his flowers. Sure he does his tunes with Ed Sheeran and they're not my thing. But thats his perogative, he also makes straight "kick your head in" bangers and emotionally powerful anthems that wil go down as UK music classics. He is Stormzy. He can do whatever he wants. Shut up.
His first album had some incredible highlights but also some lowpoints and isn't one I go back to. His sophmore release though... He was just coming off of the hype of headlining Glasto, the ... read more
1 | Big Michael 2:26 | 84 |
2 | Audacity 4:05 feat. Headie One | 89 |
3 | Crown 3:33 | 90 |
4 | Rainfall 3:17 feat. Tiana Major9 | 87 |
5 | Rachael's Little Brother 5:37 | 85 |
6 | Handsome 2:32 | 80 |
7 | Do Better 4:09 | 82 |
8 | Don't Forget to Breathe [Interlude] 2:21 feat. Yebba | 82 |
9 | One Second 4:00 feat. H.E.R. | 86 |
10 | Pop Boy 2:31 feat. Aitch | 83 |
11 | Own It 3:36 feat. Ed Sheeran, Burna Boy | 75 |
12 | Wiley Flow 3:27 | 89 |
13 | Bronze 2:25 | 74 |
14 | Superheroes 3:31 | 77 |
15 | Lessons 3:07 | 77 |
16 | Vossi Bop 3:16 | 93 |
#4 | / | GQ [UK] |
#10 | / | The Observer: Kitty Empire |
#12 | / | Gaffa (Denmark) |
#16 | / | The Vinyl Factory |
#19 | / | The Line of Best Fit |
#20 | / | Clash |
#24 | / | The Independent |
#37 | / | NME |
/ | Esquire (UK) |