Skepta on stage at Alexandra Palace, London
Skepta on stage at Alexandra Palace, London © James Berry/Photoshot/Avalon

Skepta’s triumphant end-of-year gig was literally at the summit of what he called his “ends”. Alexandra Palace felt like a castle under siege as double-decker buses bearing the name of the grime star, who hails from neighbouring Tottenham, inched up and down the hill. When he emerged on stage bathed in ghoulish red lights for “No Security”, and on second track, “Konnichiwa”, under a giant blood moon, it was clear that victory wasn’t going to soften his trademark anti-establishment attack.

For the next hour, it was less a celebration, more the feeling of being pummelled in a boxing match. Dressed for this show all in black, Skepta is like the Johnny Cash of the British grime scene, a glowering figure with a stentorian delivery. Most of the set came from the 34-year-old’s Mercury Prize-winning fourth album, Konnichiwa, and almost all of the material lyrically asserted Skepta’s cussed independence and disdain for anyone outside his clan or trying to share in his success.

Born Joseph Junior Adenuga, Skepta has taken longer than contemporaries such as Dizzee Rascal and Tinie Tempah to reach this pinnacle. While that first wave of grime stars flitted into dance and pop sounds, an unhappy encounter with a major record label saw Skepta retreat to the underground and focus on his own label, Boy Better Know.

That independence has paid off, with grime’s popularity rising internationally, flattered by the attention of American hip-hop stars such as Kanye West, Drake and Pharrell Williams. Skepta’s basic sound is not particularly inventive — the set was an almost constant barrage of stomping bass lines and skittering, metallic bleeps. But as a lyricist he has charisma and a kind of sturdy gravitas. Along with his brother JME, he was joined on stage by a revolving cast of vocalists including Kano and Wretch 32, but it was only when he was centre stage that the swamp of sound had any focus.

Momentarily, Skepta allowed himself to reminisce sweetly about his childhood days ice-skating and feeding the ducks in the park. And while he talks up his militant independence, he was canny enough to pay homage to Steve Jobs, in recognition of the fact that it is technology that has allowed the grime scene to develop without the patronage of the music industry.

After performing his biggest hit, 2015’s lurching “Shutdown”, he ended the set theatrically aloft a burning car, still railing away at anyone and everyone. It perfectly tapped into the angry mood of defiance that seems very much in the air right now.

helloskepta.com

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