Stormzy has returned with the swaggering new freestyle track ‘Sorry Rach!’ – check it out below.
The rapper has not released an album since 2022’s ‘This Is What I Mean’, although he has remained in the spotlight with singles such as ‘Toxic Trait’ with Fredo, ‘The Weekend’ with RAYE and ‘Backbone’ with Chase & Status.
Now, he is back with ‘Sorry Rach!’, a stripped back freestyle that sees Big Mike rapping over a straightforward beat, throwing out casual boasts and, in the final verse, apparently revealing that he is in a new relationship. “I told the boys I think I met my wife / Baby, if you had my baby, then you’re set for life,” he raps.
He also uses the track to address the criticism he received for teaming up with McDonald’s earlier this year on a promotional meal and merchandise range. “I heard they wanna hang me out to dry for a nugget meal,” he raps. “The world might never love your way again but my mother will.”
Watch the video for ‘Sorry Rach!’ here:
In February, Stormzy reacted to the “twisted narrative” over the McDonald’s controversy, after many people pointed out that the Boycott, Divestment & Sanctions (BDS) movement had supported a global boycott of the fast food franchise for their support of Israeli forces.
The rapper, who has been vocal in his support of Palestine, appeared to remove a social media post from October 2023 that called for a “Free Palestine”, but he later clarified: “I didn’t archive the post where I came out in support of Palestine for any reason outside of me archiving loads of IG posts last year. In that post, I spoke about #FreePalestine, oppression and injustice and my stance on this has not changed”.
He continued: “The brands I work with can’t tell me what to do and don’t tell me what to do otherwise I wouldn’t work with them. I do my own research on all brands I work with, gather my own information, form my own opinion and come to my own conclusion before doing business.”
Elsewhere, Stormzy will be headlining Roskilde Festival in Denmark this summer, alongside Charli XCX, Olivia Rodrigo and Nine Inch Nails. Find tickets here.
In a four-star review of ‘This Is What I Mean’, NME wrote: “There is a small sense of disappointment that we don’t get to hear Stormzy let loose on the mic more often, but then this record was never going to be a recreation of ‘Heavy Is The Head’ or ‘Gang Signs & Prayer’s proclivity for immediate grime hits.”
“The hard-hitting lyricism is still present, though: the punchy ‘My Presidents Are Black’ references Kendrick Lamar’s ‘DNA’ after claiming that, by listening to this album, we are “now tuned into my magnum opus”. A snippet of conversation ends the track, with Stormzy’s trailblazing presence in UK music being highlighted: “The road that you go on now, you’re paving the lane. It’s this road for all these people to walk.” With ‘This Is What I Mean’, Stormzy continues to lead the way: another goal ticked off on that checklist, then.”