Skepta: Ignorance is Bliss review | Ben Beaumont-Thomas’s album of the week
(Boy Better Know)
Expectations are high after the Mercury-winning Konnichiwa, but Skepta’s flow ensures this follow up is a sensual pleasure
Any rock band worth their leathers will at some point grandly declare that they will never record, tour, or speak to the bassist ever again after what happened in that sushi restaurant bathroom, but then reverse the decision a few years later. It channels one of music’s ancient energies: the comeback. Contentedly releasing an album every year doesn’t cut through the pop cultural noise – we want our stars to rise, fall so as to demonstrate their relatable humanity, and then rise again, in the neat three-act structure beloved of the recent rash of music biopics.
But what happens after the comeback is complete? It’s a question faced by Skepta, the Tottenham rapper who, in 2016, completed perhaps the most iconic return in black British music. A withering battle MC who once destroyed an opponent with the none-so-vivid line “blow your nose you fucking butt-nosed bastard”, he surfed grime’s first wave but crashed into an ill-fated major label deal, making cheesy pop with videos that looked like a lad-mag photoshoot. In a putative Skepta biopic, we would now cut to a long monologue to himself in a mirror followed by a snappily edited training montage. He returned with That’s Not Me, a self-flagellating renunciation of his tacky previous era, in which he announced all his Gucci was going in the bin, over a classic grime beat. The prodigal son narrative was irresistible, the US took notice, and he created what is by far his best album, Konnichiwa, which reached No 2, beat the late David Bowie to the Mercury prize and was nominated for three Brits. He became a mainstay at fashion week, dated Naomi Campbell, and, while high on acid, recorded 2018’s best rap track: Praise the Lord (Da Shine), with A$AP Rocky.