Stormzy defends Meghan Markle in passionate new song 'Please'

The long wait is finally over. After teasing fans with a few singles, Stormzy is officially back with his third album, This is What I Mean. Created with a tight-knit team on the Isle of Osea in Essex, the record is his most reflective to date, shifting towards a quieter, more musical sound underpinned by gospel harmonies. Introspective voices. It's his first album since 2019's Heavy Is The Head, which featured his first number one single "Vossi Bop" and propelled him to Glastonbury Headlining position, this marks a clear shift. While standalone single "Mel Made Me Do It" was a seven-minute epic that looked back on the rapper's meteoric rise with wit, new album "This is What I Mean" focuses more on personal journey and self growing up. Accept instead.

"Can you please stop the applause? Can you please allow me to be flawed?" he asks on the piano-led "Please." In an interview with iD , Stormzy said: "The word 'please' has many meanings. There is a vulnerability, a desperation; there are many ways to say please. I think about what please means to me. . This is not a provocative thing.

"It was about letting everything unfold smoothly. I wanted to do something that wasn't premeditated. It became a kind of confession. It was very therapeutic. [...] When we succeed, we all know it's a special moment . In fact, we did it again on the album ["Sampha's Plea"]."

While reflecting on his own feelings about forgiveness and imperfection, Stormzy also mentions another person in the first verse — referencing Chris Crocker and his hit video "Don't Let Britney A line from Leave Britney Alone. "Please, can you lower your tone? Please, can you hang up on me? Please leave Meghan alone," he said. The song then has royal-adjacent references, as Stormzy says: "You wanna talk, but better not. Under pressure we fold. Better believe we're protecting your throne."

Although Stormzy also didn't confirm who he was referring to, it's likely that he was talking about Meghan Markle, the Duchess of Sussex. Stormzy has previously defended Markle from intense media criticism, saying there was no "credible" reason to dislike her. "Meghan is a lovely woman and she does her thing... but they just hate her," he told New York radio station Hot 97.

Read the lyrics to “Please” in full below:

Oh oh oh oh yeah yeah

Oh please, please

Oh please, oh please, yes

Wow, wow, wow, oh, please

Please, can you lower your tone? (please)

Please, can you hang up on me? (oh please)

please don't disturb megan

I said, please leave Megan alone (Whoa, whoa, whoa, oh, please)

It stings deeply when you realize that your house was never your home

You want to talk, but it's better not to talk (please)

Under pressure we fold

Better believe we're protecting your throne (oh please, oh please)

I gotta let it be known that eventually we will grow (whoa, whoa, whoa, oh, please)

I am a sensitive soul. Can you please pause the applause? (oh please)

Can you please make me defective? (oh please)

Please leave your pain at the door

Yeah, there's so much stuff in this house I can't take it anymore (Whoa, whoa, whoa, oh please)

please don't let me fall

Lord, please give me the strength to forgive my father because he (oh please) is flawed and so am I, so who am I?

Don't forgive a man who's tried it, I see his soul and I know it's crying (Whoa, whoa, whoa, oh please)

But with this pain I would rather

With this pain I'd rather paint (oh, please)

And try to turn this broken picture into something it's not (oh, come on)

I'd rather live with this pain 'cause it makes me who I am (Whoa, whoa, whoa, oh please)

Maybe it's time for me to let go and free myself

I save youth from regrets (oh, please)

I give you peace before you rest, it's the least you deserve (oh please)

I think we've all had enough, please

Wow, wow, wow, oh, please, please

Oh, please, oh

Wow, wow, wow, oh, please, please

Oh please

Wow wow wow oh