Stormzy

“I'm a bit crazy, so sometimes I just get these mad ideas that, on paper, aren't even possible.”

“I know a lot of grime artists started off on pirate radio, but I missed that era; I was way too young.”

“If I'm not working on music, I'm usually with my friends playing FIFA. We just kick back - I'm proper chilled.”

“I was good at most subjects at school. Looking back, I was a proper boffin! Now, the thing I'm really good at is poker.”

“I like flipping Coldplay. And I like Jessie Ware. But I'm sure how we grew up was totally different.”

“I need to just make as much noise and bang on as many doors as possible 'til men are, like, giving you the recognition.”

“I grew up as a British kid - I went to school in London, roamed the streets of London - but having these interactions with my roots and going back to Ghana, I'm like, 'Yeah this is sick.' I love my country and my people, and the energy and vibes that they bring back. So I want to rep that and be a part of it.”

“Britain is not just One Direction, Little Mix, and James Bay. There's Skepta killing it, there's Krept and Konan killing it.”

“The Americans have their way of talking, their way of dressing, their way of doing things, and we have ours. That's why this whole U.K. underground thing has become sick, because everyone has finally said, 'Yeah, yeah, Drake is sick - but hang on, we are too.'”

“Our parents don't always know what's right. It's a new age.”

“I just feel like there is nothing I cannot do.”

“Every single thing that I was told that I couldn't do without a label - get in the charts, get on to the Radio 1 playlist - I've done.”

“I went to pick up my nephew from primary school, and one of the teachers there stopped me and said, 'My son listens to you.' That's quite an awkward thing.”

“Most middle-aged white men probably don't know about little old Stormzy from London.”

“It's not always about convincing your parents of what you want to do, but just saying, 'This is what I'm doing; this is what I love.'”

“I love Frank Ocean. For me, 'Channel Orange' is the best LP ever. I love his voice, the songwriting, everything.”

“I don't even think of it as a strategy. It's me in my element; it's my forte. Me being with all the mandem on the ends, spitting to an old school grime riddim, is me in my element; that's when I feel I'm at my best.”

“Engineering was the safe and sensible choice, but music was what I loved and wanted to do.”

“It's mad to think I was just a kid from south London, rapping in parks with friends.”

“I was doing without for so long, not knowing the things that are normal for musicians. I was getting bookings regardless, people phoning or emailing me direct, and journalists were writing about me anyway.”