“I’m going to volunteer an unpopular opinion: Ignorance Is Bliss, Skepta’s latest release, is a better album than the Mercury Prize-winning Konnichiwa. I don’t want to hear any objections. This record is exactly what we need right now, an antidote to the relentless political commentary from all corners of popular culture, a return to grime that is about pushing the street level experience of London”
“‘Konnichiwa’ seems like a very long time ago. Since Skepta more than deservedly took the Mercury Prize for his fourth album in 2016, the Tottenham rapper has maintained a relatively low-profile, appearing on the odd featured track, with mixed results. ‘England Lost’, a collaboration with Mick Jagger, was genuinely harrowing, an anti-Brexit rap-rock crossover on which Mick griped about having lost ”
“Grime is a particularly complicated genre in which to mature, not least for an MC whose gravelly delivery and fierce intelligence have long given him the aura of an elder statesman. Having won the Mercury prize with his last full-length, 2016’s Konnichiwa, and crossed over to US hip-hop audiences, the bar for Skepta’s long-awaited fifth album is set high. Ignorance Is Bliss handles the MC’s next ”
“Skepta doesn't break new ground on Ignorance Is Bliss, but he's still a master of his craft”
“Three years after he galvanized a new class of UK rappers, the grime MC tries to meet the high bar he set for himself.”
“Maybe it's the tedium of a career spanning nearly two decades, or a shred of complacency settling in after winning the highly coveted Mercury Prize in 2016, but Skepta seems subdued on Ignorance. A decent album, but not his best. ”
