Background and career
Michael Ebenezer Kwadjo Omari Owuo Jr (born 26 July 1993), known professionally as Stormzy, is a British rapper, singer and songwriter. In 2012, he gained attention on the UK underground music scene through his Wicked Skengman series of freestyles over classic grime beats. Stormzy's song "Shut Up", which was initially released as a freestyle on YouTube, became popular and peaked at number eight on the UK Singles Chart after he launched a campaign to reach Christmas number one. Stormzy won Best Grime Act at the 2014 and 2015 MOBO Awards and was named as an artist to look out for in the BBC's Sound of 2015 list. His debut album, Gang Signs & Prayer (2017), was the first grime album to reach number one on the UK Albums Chart and won British Album of the Year at the 2018 Brit Awards. In 2019, Stormzy achieved his first UK number-one single with "Vossi Bop" and became the first British rapper to headline the Glastonbury Festival; where he wore a UK-stab vest designed by Banksy, in light of the rise in knife crime in London. Stormzy's second album, Heavy Is the Head, was released on 13 December 2019. On 22 September 2022, he released the single "Mel Made Me Do It" accompanied by an 11-minute music video featuring popular artists, actors and sports figures such as Usain Bolt and José Mourinho. His third album, This Is What I Mean, was released on Def Jam on 25 November 2022.
Michael Ebenezer Kwadjo Omari Owuo Jr was born on 26 July 1993 in Thornton Heath, a suburb of Croydon, South London. His mother is Ghanaian, his father was a taxi driver and he is a cousin of rapper Nadia Rose. He grew up in South Norwood, London, with his mother, brother, and two sisters. Stormzy did not come from a particularly musical household, although he liked music. He attended Stanley Technical School for Boys, South Norwood. He began rapping at the age of 11 and would clash with older rappers at his local youth club. Stormzy has said about his school years: "I was a very naughty child, on the verge of getting expelled, but I wasn't a bad child; everything I did was for my own entertainment. But when I went into an exam I did really well." He said he got six A*s, three As, and five Bs on his GCSEs, but then only achieved a "humbling" ABCDE on his A Levels: "For someone who would cuss in class and was on the verge of being expelled, it was A Levels that showed me that in life you need work ethic." He studied for an apprenticeship in Leamington Spa, Warwickshire, and worked in quality assurance for two years at an oil refinery in Southampton, Hampshire.
After garnering attention on the UK underground music scene via his Wicked Skengman series of freestyles over classic grime beats, Stormzy released his debut EP Dreamers Disease independently in July 2014. On 22 October 2014, Stormzy won Best Grime Act at the MOBO Awards. Later that month he became the first unsigned rapper to appear on Later... with Jools Holland, performing the song "Not That Deep" from Dreamers Disease. In November 2014, Stormzy collaborated with rapper Chip and Shalo on the track "I'm Fine", also appearing in a video for the song. On 7 January 2015, Stormzy was number 3 in the "BBC Introducing top 5" on Radio 1. In March 2015 he released the single "Know Me From", which entered the UK Singles Chart at number 49. In September 2015, he released a final instalment to his "WickedSkengMan" freestyle series, "WickedSkengMan 4", onto iTunes, along with a studio version of his "Shut Up" freestyle over XTC's Functions on the Low instrumental. The track debuted at number 18 on the UK chart dated 24 September, becoming Stormzy's first top 40 hit and the first ever freestyle to reach the top 40 in the United Kingdom. On 12 December 2015, Stormzy performed "Shut Up" during British heavyweight boxer Anthony Joshua's ring-walk for his fight versus Dillian Whyte. Originally, "Shut Up", released as part of the "WickedSkengMan 4" single EP in September 2015, charted at number 59. Since the performance, it began climbing up the iTunes chart and into the top 40. As a result, Stormzy launched a Christmas number 1 campaign to get the song to number 1. It generated a large amount of support, which made it enter the top 10 of the UK Singles Chart on 18 December 2015 at number 8, a week prior to the Christmas number-1 week, succeeding the chart position of "WickedSkengMan 4". In April 2016, Stormzy released the non-album song "Scary" before he went into hiatus. After a year's hiatus from social media, Stormzy returned in early February 2017 via a series of billboard campaigns across London displaying the hashtag #GSAP 24.02. The album title was announced to be Gang Signs & Prayer. The album was released on 24 February 2017 and debuted at number one on the UK Albums Chart on 3 March 2017.
Stormzy's headline appearance on the Pyramid Stage at the 2019 Glastonbury Festival was widely praised. His set made him the first black British rapper to headline the Glastonbury Festival. The performance featured a speech by the politician David Lammy that discussed the proportion of black and minority ethnic people in the British criminal justice system and, during "Vossi Bop", Stormzy encouraged the audience to join him in chanting "Fuck the Government and fuck Boris" - the latter a reference to former London Mayor Boris Johnson's Conservative Party leadership campaign. The show included guest appearances by dance group Black Ballet and pop singer Chris Martin. Stormzy wore a Union Jack stab vest designed by the artist Banksy, which was widely perceived as a comment on the rise in knife crime in London. He has reached number one on the UK Singles Chart four times; firstly as part of "Artists for Grenfell" on 23 June 2017 with "Bridge Over Troubled Water", secondly with his own solo single "Vossi Bop", which debuted at number one upon its entry, ahead of "Me!" by Taylor Swift featuring Brendon Urie by some 500 combined sales, thirdly with his collaboration with Burna Boy and Ed Sheeran, "Own It" and fourthly with as a featured artist on the Ed Sheeran single "Take Me Back to London". Stormzy later released the singles "Crown", "Sounds of the Skeng" and "Wiley Flow", before announcing his second album, Heavy Is the Head, for release on 13 December 2019. In the 2020 action-adventure game Watch Dogs: Legion, Stormzy appears as a fictionalized version of himself, offering a mission in which his character plays the track "Rainfall" from Heavy is the Head. The video for Rainfall appears in the mission, showing Stormzy's motion capture performance over locations, graphics, and the fictionalized future London setting of the game. Stormzy was recognised for both his contributions to music and his activism, landing him at number 5 in the Top 10 of the annual Powerlist in 2020, with an estimated net worth of £20 million in 2020. Heavy is the Head was shortlisted for the Mercury Prize 2020. This was the second nomination in his career. In the Powerlist 2021 he ranked as the third most influential Black Briton, for his advocacy against racial injustice and philanthropy, pledging £10 million to charities
Stormzy released the single "Mel Made Me Do It" on 23 September 2022, his first solo single since 2020. Its music video included a variety of cameos from Usain Bolt and Louis Theroux, among others. He returned to social media on 12 October 2022 to announce his third album This Is What I Mean, which was recorded on Osea Island in England. It was released on 25 November 2022. The first single was titled "Hide & Seek" on 14 October 2022. On 22 June 2023, Stormzy released the single "Toxic Trait" featuring Fredo. A month later, Stormzy and Raye released "The Weekend", having previously collaborated on the latter artist's 2016 track "Ambition".
Stormzy describes himself as "a child of grime"; he was influenced by the likes of Lethal Bizzle, Bruza, D Double E and Flirta D. However, he also cites R&B singers such as Frank Ocean and Lauryn Hill as influences on his sound.
Sources
Net-worth figure: Celebrity Net Worth (October 2026), in USD. Biography and career facts: the person's Wikipedia article and linked reporting. Snapshot date for all StarWorth figures: 28 October 2026.
