This Is What I Mean

This Is What I Mean is the third studio album by British rapper Stormzy, released on 25 November 2022, by #Merky and 0207 Def Jam. The album serves as Stormzy's first release under 0207 Def Jam. It features guest appearances from Amaarae, Ayra Starr, Black Sherif, Debbie, India Arie, Jacob Collier, Ms Banks, Nao, Sampha, and Tendai, alongside production from Grades, Juls, P2J, Scribz Riley, and several other producers. The album serves as a follow-up to Stormzy's second album, Heavy Is the Head (2019).
Upon release, This Is What I Mean was met with widespread critical acclaim, with music critics praising Stormzy's "hard-hitting lyricism". The album debuted atop the UK Albums Chart, moving 27,800 album-equivalent units in its first week, marking the rapper's third consecutive chart-topping album, and was nominated for Album of the Year at the 2023 Brit Awards. The album was supported by two singles: "Hide & Seek" and "Firebabe", both of which peaked in the top ten of the UK Singles Chart.
Following the album's announcement, through a press release, Stormzy revealed that the album was recorded on Osea Island in England during a series of music camps with a team of "world-class musicians and the best producers, writers and artists in the world" in a "free atmosphere", where Stormzy "prayed every morning" during its creation.
On 23 September 2022, Stormzy released the non-album single "Mel Made Me Do It" which many assumed would mirror the sound of the album. Following an almost three-year hiatus from social media, Stormzy announced the album on his social media on 12 October 2022, sharing the cover art and tracklist. Just two days later, Stormzy released the album's lead single, "Hide & Seek" on 14 October 2022, and was preceded by clips of Stormzy recording the song. On 10 November 2022, Stormzy released the album's second single, "Firebabe".
This Is What I Mean was met with "generally favorable" reviews from critics. At Metacritic, which assigns a weighted average rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream publications, this release received an average score of 79, based on 14 reviews.
Writing for Clash, James Mellen wrote that the record "is a low-key affair, downbeat and introspective" while the album's tracks are "intimate in theme as well as production", describing the album as "Stormzy’s cohesive and coherent project to date". The Guardian's Alexis Petridis wrote that "This Is What I Mean sticks to subtlety and nuance" and that "it’s a mood that fits perfectly, even if it isn’t what people might be expecting". Helen Brown for The Independent compared Stormzy to Donny Hathaway, stating that he "has a voice that can reach through the darkness and steady your heart". Brown wrote that the record "reflects all that in the way it puts Stormzy’s English vernacular afloat on a wider stage" while she praised the album's production. Sam Moore for NME wrote that the album has a "largely mellow and mature tone", however, "there is a small sense of disappointment that we don’t get to hear Stormzy let loose on the mic more often". Moore concluded that "the hard-hitting lyricism is still present" and that "Stormzy continues to lead the way" in the UK rap scene. Pitchfork's Will Pritchard wrote that on the record, "Stormzy is performing for an audience of one: God". He concluded that "Stormzy is able to open his lungs, not just to scream and shout, but to breathe, and sing" and that with This Is What I Mean, Stormzy is "at the height of his powers, both creative and otherwise".
Rolling Stone UK's Emmanuel Onapa wrote that "This Is What I Mean marks a significant departure from his sound" and that throughout the record, Stormzy "provides a deeply personal and powerful reflection of the tranquillity, joy and blissfulness" which stems from his "Christian faith and as a black man navigating Britain". Onapa described the album as a "huge step forward" for the rapper while stating that it's a contender for album of the year. The Telegraph's Neil McCormick wrote that the album "is a moody, introspective, emotional third album of love, loss and philosophical reconciliation". McCormick continued that the album is "melancholic yet hopeful, ruminatively apologetic, intensely intimate and sensitive to the point of fragility" and that the album "sacrifices the innate swagger of rap to expose" Stormzy's vulnerability.
Will Hodgkinson of The Times described the album as a "major achievement" with atypical guest stars from "contemporary Afrobeat, soul and R&B", while David Smyth of the Evening Standard called it Stormzy's "most downbeat, intimate collection" that "very much sounds like a team effort[, t]hough the feel is insular and understated". Smyth summarised the two main themes on the album as being Stormzy "hurting from a break-up" and "the need for the advancement of black culture as a whole".
This Is What I Mean debuted at number one on the UK Albums Chart, moving 27,800 album-equivalent units in its first week, becoming Stormzy's third consecutive number-one album. The 27,800 units consisted of 13,977 CDs, 3,316 vinyl albums, 1,139 cassettes, 1,488 digital downloads and 7,954 sales-equivalent streams.
The singles "Hide & Seek" and "Firebabe", along with another album track, charted on the UK Singles Chart: "Hide & Seek" (7), "Firebabe" (5), and "This Is What I Mean" (32). UK chart rules prevent artists from having more than three songs in the top 40 at once; Stormzy's album would have generated further entries in the countdown without these rules.
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