Stormzy has said he has made a conscious decision to promote his black peers and predecessors, to combat prejudice in the music industry.
“I’ve always understood I’m the black act. Maybe the token black act,” the superstar British rapper told DJ Trevor Nelson in a one-off BBC special.
“I want to kill that where it stands.”
That’s why, the star explained, he paused his historic Glastonbury Festival set to read a list of 52 rappers who influenced him.
It also prompted him to populate the video for his recent single, Mel Made Me Do It, with musicians Little Simz, Dave and Gabrielle; sports legends Usain Bolt, Ian Wright and Dina Asher-Smith; and the author Malorie Blackman.
“There’s always been this stigma of, ‘let one through’,” he said. “There’s one black [man], one black woman at a time. That needs to die.
“So that’s why when I get Glasto, when I do Mel Made Me Do It, it’s like, ‘This is us… We stand on your shoulders.’
“I didn’t just pop out of the blue and break the matrix.”
Stormzy is also supporting new generations of black talent through his Merky foundation, which offers scholarships to Cambridge University; and Merky FC, which aims to improve diversity among football managers, coaches and other behind-the-scenes roles.
The 45-minute BBC special saw Stormzy perform a mix of classic hits and new songs, and sit down for a candid interview with Nelson about his origins, his rise to fame and why headlining Glastonbury had calmed his inner demons.
“It gave me such a peace in terms of knowing, all right, if it all falls [apart], you’ve done it. Now you can walk with your head high.”
The musician said the performance had given him the confidence to pursue a more soulful, spiritual direction on his new album This Is What I Mean.
He cited Stevie Wonder, Frank Ocean and Lauryn Hill among the record’s influences – but reserved his highest praise for Whitney Houston, who he named the “greatest of all time”.
“I’ve got a lot of GOATs, but Whitney is my GOAT GOAT,” he said.
“If I leave here and I get in my car and I listen to Whitney, I’m thinking, you’ve done something that’s intangible.
“You haven’t put your hand on my back, you haven’t shaken my hand, you haven’t given me a hug – but you have just hit me in my soul.”
Stormzy also talked about his long-standing friendship with fellow Londoner Adele.
“I’m a genuine fan,” he told Nelson. “She’s blessed with a gift of a stunning, beautiful, moving voice and a phenomenal pen. And her ability to marry what she’s gone through, her experiences, her feelings, with art and melody, is second to none.”
However, he said he had never considered asking her to appear on one of his records.
“Our friendship ain’t based off [that]. That’s never the conversation.
“Anyone who does music that is my real-life friend… Adele, Ed [Sheeran], Dave, Chris Martin, it’s never off that basis. I’ll be fine to never make music with any of them.
“However, if I could get a hook…!” he joked, before adding: “But no, I never, I never.”