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Skepta
Skepta in 2016
Background information
Birth name	Joseph Junior Adenuga
Born	(1982-09-19) 19 September 1982 (age 36) Tottenham, London, England
Genres	Grime UK garage British hip hop
Occupation(s)	Rapper songwriter record producer music video director
Years active	2000–present
Labels	Boy Better Know (2005–present) AATW (2010–2012) Island (2010–2012)
Associated acts	Roll Deep Boy Better Know ASAP Nast Jme Novelist Wiley Wizkid
Website	www.helloskepta.com

Joseph Junior Adenuga (born 19 September 1982), better known by his stage name Skepta, is a British rapper, songwriter, record producer and music video director from Tottenham, North London.^[1] Skepta, alongside his brother Jme, joined Roll Deep for a short period of time before becoming founding members of Boy Better Know in 2006. Shortly after the formation, Skepta released a mixtape entitled "Joseph Junior Adenuga".

With Boy Better Know, Skepta clashed with fellow MC Devilman for the video release Lord of the Mics 2, in what is remembered as one of the biggest clashes in grime history.^[2][3] Skepta released his debut studio album Greatest Hits in 2007 and his second album, Microphone Champion in 2009, both independently; while his third studio album Doin' It Again was released in 2011 by AATW. Skepta's fourth studio album, Konnichiwa, was released on 6 May 2016 to critical acclaim, winning that year's Mercury Prize.

Skepta has stated ‘DIY’ music is the future and told Time Out magazine, "I’m not a rapper. I’m an activist."^[4] His influence on contemporary British popular culture as a key figure in the grime scene saw him appear on Debrett's 2017 list of the most influential people in the UK.^[4] Skepta's younger brother, and Boy Better Know labelmate, is the grime artist Jme. They have collaborated many times, most recently on his album Konnichiwa. Skepta is also the brother of Beats 1 DJ Julie Adenuga.

Early life

Skepta was born on 19 September 1982 in Tottenham, North London to immigrant parents from Nigeria. The eldest of four siblings, the family grew up on Meridian Walk Estate, a council estate in Tottenham, North London.

Career

Skepta began MCing shortly before Meridian Crew disbanded in 2005, after which Skepta, alongside his brother Jme, joined Roll Deep for a short period of time before becoming founding members of Boy Better Know in 2006. Following the formation of Boy Better Know, Skepta clashed with fellow MC and grime legend Devilman for the DVD Lord of the Mics 2, in what is remembered as one of the biggest clashes in grime history.^[2][3] Shortly after the clash, Skepta released a mixtape entitled "Joseph Junior Adenuga".

2003–06: Career beginnings, Joseph Junior Adenuga and Greatest Hits

Skepta is a British Nigerian.^[5] He is the brother of fellow musician Jme and radio presenter Julie Adenuga. Skepta was originally a DJ from Tottenham-based grime collective Meridian Crew. Early in his career, Skepta released a number of instrumentals, the most notable being "DTI (Pirate Station Anthem)" and "Private Caller", the latter of which was released as a single and vocaled by various other members of Meridian Crew.

Skepta began emceeing shortly before Meridian Crew disbanded in 2005, after which Skepta, alongside his brother Jme, joined Roll Deep for a short period of time before becoming founding members of Boy Better Know in 2006. Following the formation of Boy Better Know, Skepta clashed with fellow MC Devilman for the DVD Lord of the Mics 2, in what is remembered as one of the biggest clashes in grime history.^[2][3] Shortly after the clash, Skepta released a mixtape entitled "Joseph Junior Adenuga". Skepta publicly released his debut album Greatest Hits on 17 September 2007, on his label Boy Better Know.

2008–11: Microphone Champion and Doin' it Again

Skepta self-released the first single "Rolex Sweep" in September 2008 and reached number 89 on the UK Singles Chart. Skepta then released the album Microphone Champion on 1 June 2009. He then also released single "Too Many Man" with Jme, Wiley, Frisco and Shorty, which went to chart at number 79. Skepta has released five singles off his third studio album Doin' It Again (first with a major label), titled "Bad Boy", "Rescue Me", "Cross My Heart" featuring Preeya Kalidas, "So Alive" and "Amnesia", as well as a video for the Hello Good Morning (Grime Remix). Three singles charted in the Top 40 of the UK Singles Chart, with "Rescue Me" being the most successful at number 14. "Cross My Heart" came in at number 31 and dropped out of the Top 40 a week later. Doin' it Again spent 3 weeks in the top 100 album charts and debuted and peaked at number 19 on its first week of release. In 2011 Skepta caused a big controversy by releasing a hardcore music video of his single "All over the house".^[6]

2012–present: Blacklisted and Konnichiwa

In 2012, Skepta released two singles from his fourth forthcoming album. Both "Hold On" and "Make Peace Not War" were Top 40 charting singles in the UK but were a departure from Skepta's usual sound. Skepta's second major label album was intended to be released in the fourth quarter of 2011, entitled The Honeymoon but was delayed till 2012. After a disappointing response from the first two singles Skepta decided to release a purchasable mixtape, titled Blacklisted. It was released on 2 December 2012 along with music videos to support the release prior to the release.

In March 2014, Skepta provided a verse for the remix of "German Whip" by Meridian Dan, and in the same month, he released his new single, "That's Not Me", featuring his brother Jme, peaking at number 21 on the UK charts.^[7] The single's music video won the award for Best Video at the 2014 MOBO Awards.^[8] Upon receiving the award, Skepta stated that the video cost him £80.^[9] In late 2014, Skepta released another single titled "It Ain't Safe" featuring A$AP Bari. This was followed in early 2015 with "Shutdown", as well as features on "Red Eye to Paris" by Flatbush Zombies and the remix of "Ojuelegba" by Wizkid, also featuring Drake. Skepta and others joined Kanye West at a surprise show in London, performing numerous songs together during a shared set.^[10] He was also named one of GQ's 50 best dressed British men in 2015.^[11]

In an interview it stated that Skepta's making his acting debut in 2015 film Anti-Social, released initially in May.^[12] On 14 February 2016 Skepta released "Ladies Hit Squad" featuring grime artist D Double E and American rapper A$AP Nast, of the New York-based A$AP Mob. Through a post on Instagram, Skepta announced that his album, Konnichiwa was due to be released on 6 May 2016.^[13]Konnichiwa was released to critical acclaim and became Grime's highest charting album, peaking at number 2 in the UK music charts.^[14] Konnichiwa features songs such as "That's Not Me", "Shutdown" and "Man". The release of Konnichiwa was celebrated with a launch party on 5 May 2016 held in Tokyo and live streamed on Boiler Room, featuring a live performance of the entire album by Skepta and supporting performances from Japanese trap artists Kohh, Dutch Montana, Loota, and DJ Riki.^{[15][16][17][18]}

Skepta began his "Banned From America" two-part, 14-show tour on 16 April 2017 at the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival, which covered cities throughout the United States and Europe.^[19][20] The tour was named as such in reference to Skepta's forced cancellation of his 2016 "No Fear" American tour in support of Konnichiwa, when his application for a visa to enter the United States was denied.^[21]

Skepta released his Vicious EP on 31 October 2017, with songs featuring A$AP Rocky, Lil B, and Section Boyz. In the summer of 2017, rumours on the underground dance scene suggested an imminent collaboration between Skepta and drum'n'bass pioneer Goldie. This was confirmed in Goldie's 2017 memoir All Things Remembered, which refers to him having done a track with Skepta. It has not yet been released.^[22]

Skepta features on A$AP Rocky's hit "Praise the Lord (Da Shine)", which was released in May 2018. The single charted on the Billboard Hot 100. Also in May, Skepta released his single "Pure Water", which peaked at number 78 in the UK.^[23] He followed this in June with "Energy (Stay Far Away)" featuring Wizkid, which reached number 59.^[23]

Discography

Studio albums

• 
  Greatest Hits (2007)


• 
  Microphone Champion (2009)


• 
  Doin' It Again (2011)


• 
  Konnichiwa (2016)

Mixtapes

• 
  Joseph Junior Adenuga (2006)


• 
  Been There Done That (2010)


• 
  Community Payback (2011)


• 
  Blacklisted (2012)


• 
  The Tim Westwood Mix (2015)

Awards and nominations

Personal life

On 4 April 2018, he was installed as a chief in his Nigerian hometown in Ogun State, receiving the
chieftaincy title of the Amuludun of Odo-Aje.^[32][33] On 31 July 2018, Skepta revealed he was going to become a father for the first time, via his Instagram account, and posted a picture of an ultrasound scan.^[34]

References

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Skepta.

• Official website