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This year, Skepta will release his first album in seven years, a record of “party music” — an album of bangers including “Gas Me Up (Diligent)”; “Cold Outside”, a jittery club-ready collaboration with fellow grime MC Novelist; and “Deadlines”, which turns Skepta’s immigrant upbringing into autobiography.

The story behind the album title, Fork & Knife? “I started thinking about my trajectory — how I ended up being this Nigerian, British-born artist with this outlook and this understanding of gratitude and luck,” he tells us. “Like the lottery ticket of me being Skepta to my parents. One day I asked my mum how that happened. I know Nigerian people all over the world who ended up in America or Russia or Japan. So I asked her, why the UK? She explained that her dad worked in hospitality in Nigeria. He told her that when people of a certain level sit down for dinner they use a knife and fork — how it’s set up, how it’s laid out — and he wanted all his family to do well enough to live like that.”

Fresh from winning a Brit Award, Skepta is proving he isn’t just king of grime but master of the universe. He speaks to Esquire UK for the May/June issue. Read the interview at the link in our bio.

@skepta wears @louisvuitton
Editor-in-chief @teovandenbroeke
Photographer @jessicamadavo
Stylist @feranmieso
Art Director @grenadinedempsey
Style Director @zakmaoui
Luxury Director and Interview @johnnydavisesq
Entertainment Editor (Special Projects) @nicolafahey
Picture Production Editor @gemmalucia_shootproducer
Picture Editor @_abiihollister
Senior Designer @laura5heppard
Hair @tstyles___
Grooming @shanicemua_
Set Designer @charlieheathmartin
Movement Director @joegreyadams
Tailor @nafisatosh
Set Assistants: @nyk_mensah @mariashrigley @ellistudorartdept
Styling Assistants: @thuulala @alexmakubuya

Skepta began DJing before he ever picked up a microphone, drawn first to rave culture and the communal energy of pirate radio.

“When you go right back to the pirate-radio days, it was all inspired by raving,” he says. “Because I started out DJing before I was ever MCing. I was really inspired by rave culture. It was a time when I was away from my family, away from the strictness of having Nigerian parents. I was allowed to go out and be in a British rave.

“You’ve got Black people, white people, Indian people — every colour, every continent — just in the club respecting each other. Nobody being racist, nobody being prejudiced. Everyone just raving together and listening to these beats.”

Fresh from winning a Brit Award, with his first album in seven years about to drop, Skepta is proving he isn’t just king of grime but master of the universe. He speaks to Esquire UK for the May/June issue. Read the interview at the link in our bio.

Editor-in-chief @teovandenbroeke
Photographer @jessicamadavo
Stylist @feranmieso
Art Director @grenadinedempsey
Style Director @zakmaoui
Luxury Director and Interview @johnnydavisesq
Entertainment Editor (Special Projects) @nicolafahey
Picture Production Editor @gemmalucia_shootproducer
Picture Editor @_abiihollister
Senior Designer @laura5heppard
Hair @tstyles___
Grooming @shanicemua_
Set Designer @charlieheathmartin
Movement Director @joegreyadams
Tailor @nafisatosh
Set Assistants: @nyk_mensah @mariashrigley @ellistudorartdept
Styling Assistants: @thuulala @alexmakubuya

Skepta began DJing before he ever picked up a microphone, drawn first to rave culture and the communal energy of pirate radio.

“When you go right back to the pirate-radio days, it was all inspired by raving,” he says. “Because I started out DJing before I was ever MCing. I was really inspired by rave culture. It was a time when I was away from my family, away from the strictness of having Nigerian parents. I was allowed to go out and be in a British rave.

“You’ve got Black people, white people, Indian people — every colour, every continent — just in the club respecting each other. Nobody being racist, nobody being prejudiced. Everyone just raving together and listening to these beats.”

Fresh from winning a Brit Award, with his first album in seven years about to drop, Skepta is proving he isn’t just king of grime but master of the universe. He speaks to Esquire UK for the May/June issue. Read the interview at the link in our bio.

Editor-in-chief @teovandenbroeke
Photographer @jessicamadavo
Stylist @feranmieso
Art Director @grenadinedempsey
Style Director @zakmaoui
Luxury Director and Interview @johnnydavisesq
Entertainment Editor (Special Projects) @nicolafahey
Picture Production Editor @gemmalucia_shootproducer
Picture Editor @_abiihollister
Senior Designer @laura5heppard
Hair @tstyles___
Grooming @shanicemua_
Set Designer @charlieheathmartin
Movement Director @joegreyadams
Tailor @nafisatosh
Set Assistants: @nyk_mensah @mariashrigley @ellistudorartdept
Styling Assistants: @thuulala @alexmakubuya

Skepta began DJing before he ever picked up a microphone, drawn first to rave culture and the communal energy of pirate radio.

“When you go right back to the pirate-radio days, it was all inspired by raving,” he says. “Because I started out DJing before I was ever MCing. I was really inspired by rave culture. It was a time when I was away from my family, away from the strictness of having Nigerian parents. I was allowed to go out and be in a British rave.

“You’ve got Black people, white people, Indian people — every colour, every continent — just in the club respecting each other. Nobody being racist, nobody being prejudiced. Everyone just raving together and listening to these beats.”

Fresh from winning a Brit Award, with his first album in seven years about to drop, Skepta is proving he isn’t just king of grime but master of the universe. He speaks to Esquire UK for the May/June issue. Read the interview at the link in our bio.

Editor-in-chief @teovandenbroeke
Photographer @jessicamadavo
Stylist @feranmieso
Art Director @grenadinedempsey
Style Director @zakmaoui
Luxury Director and Interview @johnnydavisesq
Entertainment Editor (Special Projects) @nicolafahey
Picture Production Editor @gemmalucia_shootproducer
Picture Editor @_abiihollister
Senior Designer @laura5heppard
Hair @tstyles___
Grooming @shanicemua_
Set Designer @charlieheathmartin
Movement Director @joegreyadams
Tailor @nafisatosh
Set Assistants: @nyk_mensah @mariashrigley @ellistudorartdept
Styling Assistants: @thuulala @alexmakubuya

Skepta began DJing before he ever picked up a microphone, drawn first to rave culture and the communal energy of pirate radio.

“When you go right back to the pirate-radio days, it was all inspired by raving,” he says. “Because I started out DJing before I was ever MCing. I was really inspired by rave culture. It was a time when I was away from my family, away from the strictness of having Nigerian parents. I was allowed to go out and be in a British rave.

“You’ve got Black people, white people, Indian people — every colour, every continent — just in the club respecting each other. Nobody being racist, nobody being prejudiced. Everyone just raving together and listening to these beats.”

Fresh from winning a Brit Award, with his first album in seven years about to drop, Skepta is proving he isn’t just king of grime but master of the universe. He speaks to Esquire UK for the May/June issue. Read the interview at the link in our bio.

Editor-in-chief @teovandenbroeke
Photographer @jessicamadavo
Stylist @feranmieso
Art Director @grenadinedempsey
Style Director @zakmaoui
Luxury Director and Interview @johnnydavisesq
Entertainment Editor (Special Projects) @nicolafahey
Picture Production Editor @gemmalucia_shootproducer
Picture Editor @_abiihollister
Senior Designer @laura5heppard
Hair @tstyles___
Grooming @shanicemua_
Set Designer @charlieheathmartin
Movement Director @joegreyadams
Tailor @nafisatosh
Set Assistants: @nyk_mensah @mariashrigley @ellistudorartdept
Styling Assistants: @thuulala @alexmakubuya

“I love the music so much, the music kind of loves me back. When I took a break from rapping and was DJing more, people on TikTok were taking lyrics from my old songs and using AI to put them on new beats. Those clips were getting millions of plays. I was thinking, aren’t there any new MCs making these tunes? If I stop rapping, are people just going to keep remixing my lyrics forever? And I thought, I can’t stop.”

Fresh from winning a Brit Award, with his first album in seven years about to drop, #Skepta is proving he isn’t just king of grime but master of the universe. He speaks to Esquire UK for the May/June issue. Read the interview at the link in our bio.

Editor-in-chief @teovandenbroeke
Photographer @jessicamadavo
Stylist @feranmieso
Art Director @grenadinedempsey
Style Director @zakmaoui
Luxury Director and Interview @johnnydavisesq
Entertainment Editor (Special Projects) @nicolafahey
Picture Production Editor @gemmalucia_shootproducer
Picture Editor @_abiihollister
Senior Designer @laura5heppard
Hair @tstyles___
Grooming @shanicemua_
Set Designer @charlieheathmartin
Movement Director @joegreyadams
Tailor @nafisatosh
Set Assistants @nyk_mensah @mariashrigley @ellistudorartdept
Styling Assistants @thuulala @alexmakubuya
Producer @dixiemooncie
DOP @edmundcurtis
Cam Assist @jesfdp
Video editor @yoana.pavlova_

#LeoWoodall, who stars in the upcoming thriller #Tuner, made a strong case for springtime double denim during a day out in London.

Photography by @gettyimages

#LeoWoodall, who stars in the upcoming thriller #Tuner, made a strong case for springtime double denim during a day out in London.

Photography by @gettyimages

#LeoWoodall, who stars in the upcoming thriller #Tuner, made a strong case for springtime double denim during a day out in London.

Photography by @gettyimages

Hold up, no one warned us #StellanSkarsgard would be going so hard with his #CannesFilmFestival outfits (check out that Loewe jacket). It’s just day one down at La Croisette and the Swedish actor is already showing everyone how it’s done.

Photography by @gettyimages

Hold up, no one warned us #StellanSkarsgard would be going so hard with his #CannesFilmFestival outfits (check out that Loewe jacket). It’s just day one down at La Croisette and the Swedish actor is already showing everyone how it’s done.

Photography by @gettyimages

Hold up, no one warned us #StellanSkarsgard would be going so hard with his #CannesFilmFestival outfits (check out that Loewe jacket). It’s just day one down at La Croisette and the Swedish actor is already showing everyone how it’s done.

Photography by @gettyimages

As he launches his new show on BBC iPlayer “Half-Man”, we sat down with the creator and star, Richard Gadd, to play a game of “This or That.”

It was an #Adolescence reunion at the BAFTA Television Awards today, when on screen father and son duo #StephenGraham and #OwenCooper linked up.

Photography by @gettyimages

It was an #Adolescence reunion at the BAFTA Television Awards today, when on screen father and son duo #StephenGraham and #OwenCooper linked up.

Photography by @gettyimages

What’s the best bit of the summer? The tanning? The possibility of escaping to Milos? No! It’s hearing a song blasting out a car window that instantly makes you think, “Ah, this is what life is about.” The sound of this particular summer? Well, Charli XCX has just proffered new single “Rock Music”, which arrives with a slinky and cigarette-heavy video directed by longtime collaborator Aidan Zamiri. “I think the dance floor is dead,” the British artist sings on the chorus, “so now we’re making rock music.”

At the link in our bio, read @hennnners thoughts on Charli XCX’s “Rock music.”

On Monday night, A$AP Rocky shut down the Met Gala carpet in custom Chanel. Designed by Matthieu Blazy, the rapper donned a wool pink robe with black satin lapels and black piping details, embellished with a black silk-and-feather camelia.

Away from the Met, however, he switched things up. The good news is, he actually wore something you and I can buy. He was photographed in New York City wearing white baggy trousers, Prada kicks and an Alo zip-up pullover fleece. Now, the Alo quarter-zip is what we want to discuss, as it’s sorta sick (no surprise there, if Rocky’s in it).

Shop it at the link in our bio.

On Monday night, A$AP Rocky shut down the Met Gala carpet in custom Chanel. Designed by Matthieu Blazy, the rapper donned a wool pink robe with black satin lapels and black piping details, embellished with a black silk-and-feather camelia.

Away from the Met, however, he switched things up. The good news is, he actually wore something you and I can buy. He was photographed in New York City wearing white baggy trousers, Prada kicks and an Alo zip-up pullover fleece. Now, the Alo quarter-zip is what we want to discuss, as it’s sorta sick (no surprise there, if Rocky’s in it).

Shop it at the link in our bio.

Today Sir #DavidAttenborough turns 100-years old. The conservationist, broadcaster and national treasure has had a long and illustrious career, becoming a constant on our television screens. Another constant? His enduring love of good neck ties, which more often than not, come emblazoned with animal prints.

Happy birthday Sir David.

Photography by @gettyimages

Today Sir #DavidAttenborough turns 100-years old. The conservationist, broadcaster and national treasure has had a long and illustrious career, becoming a constant on our television screens. Another constant? His enduring love of good neck ties, which more often than not, come emblazoned with animal prints.

Happy birthday Sir David.

Photography by @gettyimages

Today Sir #DavidAttenborough turns 100-years old. The conservationist, broadcaster and national treasure has had a long and illustrious career, becoming a constant on our television screens. Another constant? His enduring love of good neck ties, which more often than not, come emblazoned with animal prints.

Happy birthday Sir David.

Photography by @gettyimages

Today Sir #DavidAttenborough turns 100-years old. The conservationist, broadcaster and national treasure has had a long and illustrious career, becoming a constant on our television screens. Another constant? His enduring love of good neck ties, which more often than not, come emblazoned with animal prints.

Happy birthday Sir David.

Photography by @gettyimages

Today Sir #DavidAttenborough turns 100-years old. The conservationist, broadcaster and national treasure has had a long and illustrious career, becoming a constant on our television screens. Another constant? His enduring love of good neck ties, which more often than not, come emblazoned with animal prints.

Happy birthday Sir David.

Photography by @gettyimages

Today Sir #DavidAttenborough turns 100-years old. The conservationist, broadcaster and national treasure has had a long and illustrious career, becoming a constant on our television screens. Another constant? His enduring love of good neck ties, which more often than not, come emblazoned with animal prints.

Happy birthday Sir David.

Photography by @gettyimages

Today Sir #DavidAttenborough turns 100-years old. The conservationist, broadcaster and national treasure has had a long and illustrious career, becoming a constant on our television screens. Another constant? His enduring love of good neck ties, which more often than not, come emblazoned with animal prints.

Happy birthday Sir David.

Photography by @gettyimages

Today Sir #DavidAttenborough turns 100-years old. The conservationist, broadcaster and national treasure has had a long and illustrious career, becoming a constant on our television screens. Another constant? His enduring love of good neck ties, which more often than not, come emblazoned with animal prints.

Happy birthday Sir David.

Photography by @gettyimages

Today Sir #DavidAttenborough turns 100-years old. The conservationist, broadcaster and national treasure has had a long and illustrious career, becoming a constant on our television screens. Another constant? His enduring love of good neck ties, which more often than not, come emblazoned with animal prints.

Happy birthday Sir David.

Photography by @gettyimages

Today Sir #DavidAttenborough turns 100-years old. The conservationist, broadcaster and national treasure has had a long and illustrious career, becoming a constant on our television screens. Another constant? His enduring love of good neck ties, which more often than not, come emblazoned with animal prints.

Happy birthday Sir David.

Photography by @gettyimages

At the UK fan event for #TheMandalorianandGrogu, we spoke to #PedroPascal and #SigourneyWeaver about the men who inspire them to be better.

Now that spring is here, it’s time to take yourself outside, settle under a tree and get lost in a book for a few hours. But what books should you actually pick up this season? Esquire’s contributing literary editor Jack Edwards has got you sorted for recommendations.