Skepta Tells The World Why Now’s His Moment On “SHUTDOWN”

"Rather than 'breaking' America, I just want British rap to be treated as just another state—Britain is just another place that raps," London grime don Skepta told The FADER last September. The MC has been grinding at his craft for the past decade, and built strong ties with NYC's underground over the past couple of years. But his goal got a boost this past month when both Kanye and Drake showed they've finally caught up and caught on to Skepta, and grime in general: that BRITs performance and that album shoutout (and borrowed line), respectively. Now he's letting his music do the talking with this heavy new track from his forthcoming album, #Konnichiwa. Mastered late last night in London, it's called "SHUTDOWN" and finds the sharp-footed MC spelling out his come up, while also signalling what he's up against by including what sounds like an audio rip of a starkly ignorant viewer complaint about the BRITs show.

"This is my new single 'SHUTDOWN' produced by myself and Ragz Originale from my upcoming album #Konnichiwa," Skepta told The FADER via email. "We made about 7 different instrumentals to it but this one was the maddest. Vine has already been going nuts for the video clips we put up from the studio, can't wait to touch a dance with this one. Big up my bro Drake on the sample, trust me listen." Yep, that's Drizzy in actor mode at the end. Tune in below and keep an eye on Skepta's website for more album news.

Photo credit: Vicky Grout