Fearless star rhymes up a grime storm

POP

STORMZY

O2 Academy Islington, N1

A DECADE or so since grime first shook up UK hip hop, it has a new star in Michael Omari, a burly 21-year-old south Londoner who is better known as Stormzy.

While the sub-genre pioneered by Dizzee Rascal, Wiley and Kano has had a patchy chart presence, Stormzy is the real deal.

Chip (formerly Chipmunk), Fekky and a resurgent Lethal Bizzle were among his gang of rappers at this riotous show, which was even more intimidating than Kanye West’s Brit Awards grime gathering (Stormzy was part of that TV event).

The rhyming was fast and furious but Stormzy was charming with it, particularly if you happened to be one of the “beautiful ladies in the front row”.

“Tonight’s going to be very good,” he promised, a confident prediction from an unsigned artist yet to crack the top 40.

It’s only a matter of time judging from this fearless performance, during which the big man dared to rap alongside a violinist. On Storm Trooper, he was accompanied by the harmonies of three female singers.

In the main, though, it was an aggressive, sweaty set, and Stormzy showed off his skills on the rapid-fire Not That Deep. The stage was soon swarming with his posse, at which point excitable rappers and fans filmed each other on their iPhones.

The room erupted for his biggest tune, Know Me From, and Stormzy announced he would be defying security’s ban on wandering into the crowd.

They may be stricter at the larger venues — including Koko — on his autumn tour, though it’s hard to see anyone getting in the way of his walkabouts. Stormzy is unstoppable.