A key figure on the grime scene since the early 00s, Skepta rebooted his career and gave the entire genre a jolt in 2014 with the electrifying That’s Not Me. This keenly awaited album, his fourth, rides the wave of that resurgence, which intensified with last year’s brilliant Shutdown, but it also bristles under the pressure. Moments of insecurity – “I can’t be up there with them people,” the Tottenham rapper frets on Corn on the Curb, “I’m too black” – are put to productive use, as are headaches such as police harassment (on Crime Riddim). The album pulses with nervy energy. None of the new tracks outshine those we’ve already heard, though Numbers, produced by Pharrell Williams, comes exuberantly close.
