Skepta

Joseph Junior Adenuga (born 19 September 1982), better known by his stage name Skepta, is a British grime MC and producer of Nigerian descent, known for co-founding the prestigious grime collective/label Boy Better Know alongside his brother Jme. Skepta began his career as a DJ, later becoming associated with the North London grime collective, Meridian Crew. Skepta was also producing around this period, creating an initial buzz around his name with the release of the “Pulse Eskimo” (nicknamed as “Gun Shot Riddim”) dubplate in 2002, a mashup instrumental of Wiley’s “Eskimo” and Youngstar’s “Pulse X”, both considered to be among the first grime songs ever made. Due to legal issues Skepta was experiencing at the time, all of his records used for DJ'ing were confiscated by the police, leading Wiley to suggest Skepta try becoming an MC instead. In 2005, Meridian Crew disbanded, and Skepta became briefly associated with Wiley’s crew Roll Deep. He also formed his own crew with his brother, Jme, called Boy Better Know (BBK for short) in 2006. Skepta began to make a name for himself as an MC and released his debut album, Greatest Hits, in 2007, which would be followed by five projects (two albums and three mixtapes) in four years. After three years of keeping a low profile, Skepta emerged with a new ambition—to go global. He achieved this with his then-upcoming fourth album’s (Konnichiwa) lead single, “Shutdown”, co-signs from Drake, and multiple collaborations with American artists. The album, which entered the UK Albums Chart at number two, went on to win the Mercury Prize in 2016. In May 2019, Skepta released his fifth album, Ignorance is Bliss, the album refers to a self proclaimed new introvert Skepta. The album included rising British artists like Lancey Foux as well as established UK artists such as J Hus and Nafe Smallz. In the making of the album, he had his first baby daughter named River who can be seen on the centre of the album cover and referenced in “Bullet from a Gun”. During his career, Skepta has also had his fair share of beef, with other high profile grime artists including Wiley and Devilman.

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