Skepta

A veteran of the U.K. grime scene, MC, producer, and record-label owner Skepta was influential in the genres shift from the underground to the pop charts, as well as its creative and commercial resurgence during the mid-2010s. Born Joseph Junior Adenuga to Nigerian parents, Skepta moved to Tottenham with his family at the age of three. Inspired by both U.S. and U.K. hip-hop, he started his music career appearing on the pirate radio circuit and performing at various MC battles. In 2005, he formed the grime label  with brother  and , and a year later joined East London collective , although he left the following year to concentrate on  and his solo career. He released his first two albums, Greatest Hits and Microphone Champion, through his label before signing with  in 2010. In the same year, he reached the Top 40 with "Bad Boy" (number 26) and "Rescue Me" (number 14); he supported  on his U.K. tour, and was personally selected by  to record a grime remix of "Hello Good Morning" after suggestions from his Twitter followers. His third album, Doin It Again, featuring the Top 40-charting single "Cross My Heart," was released at the beginning of 2011, subsequently peaking at number 19 on the U.K. album chart.

In 2012, Skepta released two singles ("Hold On" and the -sampling "Make Peace Not War") that took his sound in a more commercially minded direction. Both songs hit the Top 30 of the U.K. singles chart, and were intended to be the leadoff singles to an album titled The Honeymoon, but the disappointing reaction from fans led to the album being scrapped, and a mixtape titled Blacklisted was released at the end of the year in its place. After keeping a low profile in 2013, Skepta came back in a big way the following year. He contributed a verse to a remix of "German Whip" by , which became a Top 20 hit in May 2014. The following month, Skeptas single "Thats Not Me" (which featured a guest verse by ) was released, hitting number 21 on the charts. Both tracks were praised as helping to revitalize grime, and the latter was eventually named track of the year by FACT Magazine. Skeptas early 2015 single "Shutdown" was another U.K. Top 40 hit, and the MC received attention from  and , joining the latter on-stage during the BRIT Awards. Skepta made his acting debut with a role in the 2015 crime drama Anti-Social, and worked on his long-delayed album Konnichiwa. The album was finally released by  in May of 2016, featuring guest appearances from , , and  and his two previous hit singles. It debuted at number two on the British charts and earned vast critical acclaim, including the prestigious Mercury Prize. It was followed in 2017 with the Vicious EP, a short burst of six songs that featured appearances by , , and  and . The next year, Skepta teamed up with  for the collaborative single "Upstart" b/w "Poisonous Darts." He followed with "Sheevita Juice" and "Pure Water." Adenuga was gearing up for a new album in 2018; he delayed its release until 2019, before stylistically shifting the record and changing the name to Ignorance Is Bliss. In February 2020, he paired with Chip and Young Adz for a collaborative full-length, Insomnia, which included the track "Waze."

UPCOMING EVENTS
Citi Field, Queens
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Independence Ave, Washington
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Ferropolis, Grsfenhainichen
Thu, Jun 30 • 7:00 PM
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Praia Da Rocha Beach, Portimao
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Football Stadium, Brno
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