UK rap star Stormzy has announced the title and release date of his third studio album. Clocking in at 12 tracks, This Is What I Mean is due November 25 on Def Jam/Interscope. Stormzy wrote the album during a trip to Osea Island, an island near Essex, England that is only accessible for a few hours a day by car, as the rest of the time, it’s cut off by the tide.
Stormzy’s previous albums, 2017 debut Gang Signs & Prayers and 2019 follow-up Heavy Is the Head, were both critically acclaimed and earned him recognition stateside as one of the most recognizable grime artists here, even as he rose to the top of the charts at home. In the meantime, Stormzy was granted an honorary doctorate from Exeter, met legendary voice actor Nancy Cartwright (aka the voice of Bart Simpson), and even got a chance to try his hand at some football commentary.
But now, he’s back to doing what he does best. In a statement about the album, he said, “When you hear about music camps, they always sound intense and somber. People saying, “We need to make an album.” “We need to make some hit records.” But this felt beautifully free. We’re all musicians, but we weren’t always doing music. Some days we played football or walked around taking pictures. And the byproduct to that was very beautiful music. Because when you marry that ethos with world-class musicians and the best producers, writers, and artists in the world, and we’re in one space, that’s a recipe for something that no one can really imagine. You can’t even calculate what that’s going to come up with. And it came up with a big chunk of this album.”
You can check out the full tracklist below. This Is What I Mean is out on 11/25. Pre-save it here.
1. “Fire + Water”
2. “This Is What I Mean”
3. “FireBabe”
4. “Please”
5. “Need You”
6. “Hide & Seek”
7. “My Presidents Are Black”
8. “Sampha’s Plea”
9. “Holy Spirit”
10. “Bad Blood”
11. “I Got My Smile Back”
12. “Give It to the Water”