Skepta has released The Fork and Knife, his sixth album and his first since 2019’s Ignorance Is Bliss. The long gap matters because he has spent more than two years teasing the project while keeping the focus on lyrics that, in his words, have to hold up over time.
“Finally, some good rap music, some good UK grime sounds,” he said of the album. He also said, “you can't rush greatness,” a line that fits the release pattern as much as the record itself.
Seven years since Ignorance Is Bliss
Seven years passed between Ignorance Is Bliss and The Fork and Knife, which turns this into more than a routine catalogue update. For a rapper with a Mercury Prize, a Brit and two Ivor Novello Awards, the new record extends a run that has already carried him from Tottenham and north London to Glastonbury and Reading and Leeds, while keeping his audience measured in millions of monthly listeners.
The release also lands on a stronger business footing than a nostalgia play. Skepta has already shown he can move from the 2009 turn in Reflecting to music that reached festival crowds, and the new album keeps that line moving by returning to the kind of grime that built his name.
Lyrics, not filler, first
“Every time I write a lyric, it's important for me,” he said, and that explains why the wait has been so long. He added, “It doesn't matter whose song, what feature, what track, I'm always taking time in writing my music because I want my lyrics to be able to stand the test of time.”
The new album takes on immigration and racism, along with Brexit and culture wars, and Skepta says it explores what it means to exist between cultures and how that shaped him as an artist. That gives The Fork and Knife a sharper brief than a simple comeback: it is built to say something specific, not just to fill the silence since 2019.
Reflecting to The Fork and Knife
In 2009, Reflecting marked the point when he thought, “OK, cool, this is a talent of mine.” He called it “the first grime tune that was introspective and wasn't just about getting hype...”, and that instinct now carries into The Fork and Knife, where the return is less about volume than control.
For listeners, the practical takeaway is simple: Skepta is back with a full-length statement, not a loose single run, and the record is built around writing that is meant to last. What comes next is the album’s own test — whether those themes and that discipline can translate into the same reach his live shows and listener numbers already have.
