Stormzy Makes History at Glastonbury Festival

Stormzy just made history by becoming the first black British solo act to ever headline at the Glastonbury Festival. He is also the second youngest artist to perform at Glastonbury, with the late David Bowie beating him out by just one year of age, back in 1971. Stormzy said that he was “overwhelmed with emotions” and that this was “the most surreal feeling [he’d] ever experienced.”

 

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Last night I headlined Glastonbury in a stab-proof vest custom made by the greatest, most iconic living artist on planet earth, the one and only BANKSY. I opened my set with words of encouragement from my hero and ultimate inspiration and the greatest rapper to ever grace planet Earth Jay-Z. I got to sing with the most incredible and legendary man I know – Chris Martin – a man who’s genius I am so in awe of that it makes me go to studio and try to emulate him. Raleigh Ritchie – one of our country’s greatest musical talents thank you my brother. Dave & Fredo – I love you my brothers, UK’s finest rappers, thank you from my heart for helping me light up the stage and making one of the most beautiful moments our culture has seen. Thank you to my lil brother @djtiiny theres no way in hell I could do this without you you have my back always and I’m so proud of you – you are my brother in arms we go to war together I appreciate you. To Bronski, Amber, Misty, Trev, Kojo, Tim, James, Sam & my whole tour/creative/production team I appreciate you all and I’m forever grateful. To my band and to my amazing choir who have worked tireless and given this their everything all whilst sounding flawless, effortless and amazing I appreciate you all very much I can’t do this without you. Massive thank yous to: the W.A.R dance crew you lot are now my brothers thank you for bringing a God-sent energy that I truly needed. To Princess K – you are a superstar, the crowd went absolutely crazy for you and I’m so excited to watch you take the world by storm. To Ballet Black, the grace, beauty and feeling you blessed the world with yesterday was felt in the hearts of millions. To Mac, Trizzy, Bobby, C1, Flipz my BikeStormz family I’m so happy the world got to see you lots talent and skills – you just showed the world about bikelife – be very fucking proud. To Big TJ & James for getting me ready and prepared for the energy this set would need. To the whole of my #MERKY team – my family who hold me down and have my back till the end. THANK YOU GUYS, THANK YOU GOD. I am proud of myself and I feel blessed and fulfilled and purposeful. Your Glastonbury 2019 headliner, over and out. 🎤❤️

A post shared by @ stormzy on Jun 29, 2019 at 8:15am PDT

Stormzy wore a stab-proof vest featuring the U.K. flag, designed by the artist Banksy, to the show as a reminder that racism is something that many people deal with every day and society needs to address in order to move past. The vest was specifically in response to the British knife crime crisis that has been ongoing for five years.

 

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. I made a customised stab-proof vest and thought – who could possibly wear this? Stormzy at Glastonbury.

A post shared by Banksy (@banksy) on Jun 29, 2019 at 6:41am PDT

Much of Stormzy’s lyrical genius is also dedicated to bringing attention to racial equality and justice. He also started a book imprint, Merky Books, last year. Merky Books is currently promoting  Taking Up Space, by Chelsea Kwakye and Ore Ogunbiyi, which discusses the authors’ experiences attending Cambridge University as black minorities.

Featuring honest conversations with students past and present, #TakingUpSpaceBook, the latest book from @stormzy‘s @MerkyBooks, goes beyond the buzzwords of diversity and inclusion, and explores what those words truly mean for young black girls today. https://t.co/nNGr7gBZAR pic.twitter.com/QAp44rm242

— Penguin Books UK (@PenguinUKBooks) June 27, 2019

Stormzy’s song “Vossi Bop” is currently sitting in the number two position on Billboard’s list of Top U.K. Singles.