In a new feature profile with Fader, British grime rapper Stormzy opened up about the types of racial profiling and discrimination he’s received in his home country. More specifically, he talked about an incident that took place last year, just two weeks before releasing his No. 1 hit album Gang Signs & Prayer, when he was spotted by some neighbors entering his own home in a mostly-white neighborhood. Some mistook him for a burglar and called the police who kicked down his door a 5 AM.
Woke up to Feds destroying my front door coz apparently I'm a burglar who burgles his own home. @metpoliceuk need your bank details still pic.twitter.com/fGH1fsePHv
— Stormzy (@stormzy) February 14, 2017
When asked by people whether he was shocked by the police action, he said, “I’m thinking, Bruv, I’m not f**king shocked. As a black youth, nothing has changed. If someone doesn’t know I’m Stormzy, I’m a 6’5” dark-skinned brother in an all-black tracksuit with a gold tooth and a deep voice. If people have views already, I’m gonna fit that view.”
A short while later, he made an appearance on a U.K. comedy panel show called The Last Leg, where he chose to brush off the incident as having racial undertones, a decision he now regrets. “A lot of places, I may be one of the few minorities in the building, or on the panel, or on the stage,” he said. “I’m gonna be facing a lot more of these situations. In this country, there are not enough black actors or musicians. So when someone gets there, you’ve got to be the voice that calls out the bullsh*t.”
