Stormzy: Meghan Markle lyric in new track was my gut reaction

Watch: Stormzy says his defence of Meghan Markle is not political

Stormzy has confirmed the lyric "Leave Meghan alone" in his new track Please, is in defence of Meghan Markle.

The Superheroes rapper has said the line in the song on his new album This Is What I Mean is not meant to be political, it just came from his gut reaction after watching the Duke and Duchess of Sussex's interview with Oprah Winfrey in March 2021.

The 29-year-old rapper – whose real name is Michael Ebenezer Kwadjo Omari Owuo Jr. – told Apple TV's Zane Lowe: "The Meghan lyric, that is the most genuine, 'Leave her alone'.

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"It’s not political. It’s not rooted in that. It’s a genuine, 'Leave her alone'… if you was at a bar, or you was at a party, and you saw someone, and it’s just like, 'Leave her alone.'"

He added: "Forget she's the royal whatever, that's a woman just going about her life with her husband, that has a kid, you lot are just being nasty to the woman clear as day."

Stormzy said recording the album had been a "freestyle-y" and "stream of consciousness" process and he had watched the Oprah Winfrey interview shortly before going into the studio to make the track in New York.

He said: "When I said it, I didn't know I wanted to say that... but when I said it I was like, 'Yeah'."

The grime artist added: "There's been a few moments in my actually reality where I've had to say, 'Leave him alone', or 'Leave her alone' and that was on of those moments just on wax."

The British rapper previously spoke out in defence of Markle and her treatment by the British media, when she and Prince Harry first announced their decision to "step back as 'senior' members of the Royal Family back in January 2022.

Stormzy told New York radio station Hot 97 "Meghan is a sweet woman, she’s a lovely woman, she does her thing, I ain’t heard her say nothing crazy and they just hate her."

The Crown rapper referenced a recent comment by Eamonn Holmes on TalkSport radio, in which he said: "I look at her and I think... I don't think I'd like you."

He said: “I say, ‘Bro she’s Black!’ What you talking about you just look at her and think she’s just got this arrogance. She’s just Black, man.

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“If you told someone write a list as to why you hate Meghan Markle, the list is rubbish. There’s nothing credible to it.”