Skepta can be considered one of the elder statesmen of the grime genre. He turns 37 this September and has a history of rapping that goes back to 2005. Almost fifteen years and five mixtapes and albums later, he’s become one of the most critically acclaimed and commercially successful rappers in the grime genre.
Ignorance is Bliss is Skepta’s fifth album and his first since 2016’s critically acclaimed Konnichiwa. In between that time, he went on tour across the United States and Europe, dropped an EP and appeared on A$AP Rocky's hit single Praise the Lord (Da Shine). He even changed the album title from what it was previously known as SkLevel due to it being a "2018 pattern" according to Skepta himself.
It is not known what else was changed besides the album title but the album in its current state has some contrasting differences to its predecessor. The production on Ignorance is Bliss is more colorful and has even more bounce to it than on his last album and Skepta is able to compliment this production with his straightforward raps. Songs like No Sleep with a beat structured around a Tokyo inspired melody and Gangsta a Boy Better Know posse cut that has an abrasive bounce to it similar to tracks off Vince Staples' Big Fish Theory. Skepta has more production credits on Ignorance is Bliss than on his previous album which can explain the difference in this album's sound.
One factor that Konnichiwa has over this album though is its features. Outside of a soothing hook on Glow in the Dark performed by both British artist Lay-Z and WizKid, as well as a catchy and enjoyable hook delivered by fellow grime rapper J Hus on What Do You Mean? and an entertaining verse from rapper Key! on Redrum, the rest of the features either don't add to the song or are just simply forgettable. While Gangsta has one of the best beats on the album, it's ultimately a worse Boy Better Know posse cut than Detox, which appeared on Konnichiwa. Ultimately, it's predecessor had more standout features, with none of the guests going to waste on the tracks that they appeared on.
Skepta also decides to add more introspection to his raps, with Glow in the Dark being one of the key examples of this. He starts the song with these lines, "I knew what it was to be black way before I was on the GQ cover/How you gonna question me about colour?/What you know about Nelson Mandela?" and from there raps about his views on the British government, his struggles with his insecurities and how his parents raised him to become the man he is currently.
But Going Through It is the peak of him examining himself and the struggles that he goes through on a day to day basis. Backed by its dark, almost sinister beat, Skepta raps "Said they wanna be like me, you don't know what you're sayin'/Always been a daredevil, man, I was born from pain/They say ignorance is bliss, but I think that's a shame" on the last verse. Despite Konnichiwa being a great album in its own right, it lacked introspective moments like these. The birth of his first child late last year could be one of the factors in Skepta showing more of this side of him.
A lot has changed in these last few years for Skepta. These years have been busy and almost chaotic. Still, he's managed to put together another great effort and solidify his place as one of grime's greats.
Final score: 8/10
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