Review: Skepta @ Olympia, Louis Miller

Skepta must feel like he is at the top of the UK rap ladder right now. Having traversed Europe and the UK for the past few weeks, he finished off his tour on Friday 29th November with a sold-out gig at Olympia in Kensington – that’s a lot of people! What’s more, he didn’t take on that crowd of 10,000 alone…

It’s been a big decade for Skepta, having released music nonstop and received a whole variety of awards, most notably the Mercury Prize for his 2016 album Konnichiwa. Skepta returned with a new album in 2019, Ignorance Is Bliss, which Skepta claimed was made for himself almost as an album of self-discovery. It charted at number two in the UK in May and since then he has featured on other artists’ work - as well as touring extensively.

The doors opened at around 6:30, but by 5:30 there was already a sizeable crowd braving the cold Kensington air to get to the front of the colossal venue. Veteran DJ Tim Westwood attempted to get the crowd going until 8pm to little avail, but it was the arrival of Skepta’s Boy Better Know colleague Shorty which really got the evening started. Despite being part of one of the UK’s most well-known grime collectives, Shorty is largely unknown, particularly regarding his solo material. But the crowd were in for a real treat as Shorty brought out rapper Goldie 1 as well as fellow Boy Better Know members, Jammer and Frisco. This really set the tone of the evening, and after intense moshing to ‘Too Many Man’, the crowd couldn’t stop moving.

Next up to support Skepta was Pop Smoke, a hot new talent out of New York City, who has been following Skepta on the UK leg of his tour. His set was energetic and certainly got the crowd pumped up for Skepta. Yet it was clear everyone was there to see the Mercury-winner and when Pop Smoke’s set finished, the crowd waited with excited anxiety for the show, especially when Tim Westwood moved his decks offstage and the setlists were taped up.

Not long after 9pm, the lights dropped as BBK’s DJ Maximum got behind the decks. The screens at the back lit up with a NASA style countdown before the Ignorance Is Bliss opener ‘Pure Water’ came on, and soon Skepta darted on stage to a lively crowd, jumping and moshing like it was his last day on earth. This was followed up with another song from the 2019 album You Wish, which maintained the crowd’s intensity. But, if the crowd were expecting a night of just Skepta and DJ Maximum: they were wrong - because a few songs later, London rapper Lancey Foux appeared out of nowhere to rap his verse on ‘Animal Instinct’. But Skepta had much more in store. After performing ‘Redrum’, arguably one of the best

performed songs of the night, and more from Ignorance is Bliss, Skepta teased the crowd with the opening bars of ‘Bet’ - a song by fellow grime artist Octavian on which he features - and moments later Octavian ran on stage to a screaming crowd, performing a monumental version of the song before Octavian’s fellow Essie Gang member Michael Phantom rapped his verse.

Lancey Foux, Octavian. By this stage, it had already been an exciting evening. But no-one in the crowd was prepared for what came next. I had a hunch that, being such an important show for Skepta, bringing out A$AP Rocky for their 2018 platinum single ‘Praise the Lord (Da Shine)’ wasn’t outside the remit of possibility. Even so, when the song’s flutey motif boomed through the soundsystem and Rocky appeared under a black umbrella, the rest of the crowd and I showed our appreciation for one of rap’s biggest names. This may have worn out the crowd somewhat, but when Skepta brought out his younger brother JME to perform ‘That’s Not Me’, the raucous spirit was revived and then again when grime star AJ Tracey came out to perform their single ‘Kiss and Tell’.

The show culminated in two of the most popular tracks from Ignorance Is Bliss, with Cheb Rabi and B Live guesting for ‘Love Me Not’ and Nafe Smallz charging onto stage for ‘Greaze Mode’. But as Skepta gave a speech to the crowd, it was clear that this was his time. He left the stage to take photos with fans at the barrier, ‘Back to Basics’ playing in the background, crowd exhausted but gleeful. With more guests than a hotel, Skepta ended his busy year with a stunning performance at Olympia - and I certainly felt it was £40 well spent!