Ignorance Is Bliss

Skepta is more than happy to satisfy his core fanbase. It’s something Dizzee Rascal struggled to find a formula for, so “Ignorance is Bliss” succeeds in that regard. Minus the terrible “Animal Instinct”, it’s easy to recommend.

It's a winningly fluid mix of on-trend beats, intriguing cameos and subtle, Eastern-influenced melodies. [Aug 2019, p.113]

If Konnichiwa was Skepta’s coming of age, then Ignorance is Bliss is a comfortable consolidation, one that hints at the changes in the artist’s life without ever delving deep in. Nonetheless, the project comfortably asserts his place in the current moment as a unique figurehead of UK culture, possessing artistic ability in bags and a persona that suggests far more to come.

On Ignorance Is Bliss, Skepta is back with a renewed hunger and sense of purpose, overcoming a new set of challenges and proving once again why he is a grime mainstay.

Ignorance Is Bliss handles the MC’s next steps with authority and, crucially, popping production.

The chief pleasure of this album is how much it allows Skepta to be Skepta: an MC who always looks, waits, then darts between the traffic of his beats. This sensual pleasure goes beyond lyrics and into pure music, and should sustain his career long past his recent triumphant homecoming.

The result is a quintessentially London record, as dark and moody as it is brash and innovative.

Although album five lacks the narrative that made ‘Konnichiwa’ so compelling (a victory lap for grime’s commercial renaissance, it also reasserted his DIY credentials), this sounds like a record from a rapper with gallons of creative juice in the tank.

His fifth album is the most grown and mature.

Overall, there is something deeply satisfying about the majority of the album, anchored by Skepta’s unique vocal delivery and a sonic playfulness that he has long perfected. Skepta has proven himself a pioneer at several points of his career, now it’s just good to him hear at the top of his game.

As the album plays out with its series of sketches that flip between the trivial and contemplative, and as Skepta tussles to find his place in the world, you’re left wondering whether he craves the bliss of youthful innocence or the responsibility of being a voice for a generation. Unfortunately, Ignorance Is Bliss is a deferral, splitting the difference with a series of half-measures.

Maybe it's the tedium of a career spanning nearly two decades, or a shred of complacency settling in after winning the highly coveted Mercury Prize in 2016, but Skepta seems subdued on Ignorance. A decent album, but not his best.