Stormzy's Heavy Is The Head review round-up: Widespread acclaim for rapper's second album

One of the biggest albums of the year has finally been released — and the general consensus is that it’s a triumph.

Stormzy’s second album, Heavy Is the Head, has been met with widespread critical acclaim, with a flurry of four-star reviews across the board.

The Standard was one of the publications to heap praise upon the 16-track release, with David Smyth describing it as “another great album”, and “starkly honest” with “lyrical dexterity”.

Read our review in full here, and read below for what other critics are saying about Heavy Is the Head.

The Independent — Four stars

“It’s almost three years since the Croydon-born rapper became a household name, having released his blistering debut album Gang Signs & Prayer and then closed the Brit Awards with a ruthless evisceration of the government’s handling of the Grenfell tragedy. Now, he’s cast himself as some kind of Shakespearean anti-hero: brooding, misunderstood, conflicted. Not only is it a drastic step up from an impressive debut, but it shows an artist keen to test himself emotionally, as well as artistically.”

The Guardian — Four stars

“Perhaps more important than its references to the era when Stormzy was a tweenager himself is how perfectly balanced the music on Heavy Is the Head is. It shifts from the soft-rock-ish electric piano of Lessons to the flatly brilliant assemblage of lo-fi samples and warped vocal effects of Handsome, but it consistently hits a sweet spot. It is packed with memorable hooks – singles Vossi Bop and Wiley Freestyle are by some distance the least obviously commercial things here – but never sounds obvious or craven in its desire for chart success.”

The i — Four stars

“It may be cloaked in a murky, subversive ambiance that makes many tracks sound like chart R&B being fed through a wormhole to Croydon’s darker corners, but Heavy Is The Head finds Stormzy stalking closer to mainstream acceptability. There’s even a wriggle-your-belly ragga pop tune called “Own It”, featuring a verse by Ed Sheeran that’s remarkably bright-eyed for a song about smoking dope.”

The Telegraph — Four stars

“Throughout this album, he wrestles with the privileges and burdens of his success. The result wittily, emotionally and triumphantly affirms his position at the head of the British rap pack. Like many of our most fascinating pop stars, from John Lennon to Robbie Williams, Stormzy lies on a knife-edge between ego and insecurity, self-confidence and self-doubt.”

Financial Times — Four stars

“The production throughout is supple and clear. Stormzy negotiates the various layers of his songs and verses with a fine vocal performance, fluently varying the tempo and register of his rapping and occasionally breaking into passages of decently accomplished singing. Whatever its heaviness, the crown is his for the foreseeable future.”

The Times — Four stars

“Stormzy’s sweet singing voice still comes as a surprise, given the stridency of his rapping. He has a priceless ability to combine bravado and vulnerability, street cred and radio-friendliness. His vowels sometimes crack in a way that evokes Jay-Z, who always sounds as if he’s about to cry. If Stormzy’s royal uneasiness isn’t always convincing, his regret over mucking up a relationship (ex-girlfriend Maya Jama?) certainly is. “Greatest love I ever knew,” he raps on Lessons. “I poured it down the drain.””

DIY Mag — Four stars

“Let’s face it, there’s only so long an artist as big as Stormzy can keep the gap between expectation and reality on a level-playing field before it catches up with him, ‘Heavy Is The Head’ demonstrates he’s kept these opposing forces in perfect balance. Like life itself, there’s flashes of humour, love, heartbreak, politics, fun, vulnerability and identity (in both its searching and celebratory form) across its 16 tracks.”

GQ

“The most striking thing about Heavy Is The Head, however, is how much Stormzy has elevated his craft. Each track sounds like the artist we’re all familiar with, but he starts to explore different sounds, from Afrobeat rhythms on tracks such as “Rainfall” and “Own It” to songs that are obviously influenced by a more American sound, such as “One Second”, featuring HER. Strings, brass bands, choirs and acoustic guitars all make an appearance alongside the heavy bass we currently associate with Stormzy’s music, indicating clear effort on his part to give his sound more technical finesse. The result is music that’s well rounded and rich with nuances. This is an album worth investing in some good headphones for.”