// BBC UK NEWS — CRONACA
Skepta: 'I'm what it looks like if you give an immigrant child a chance'
Skepta released The Fork and Knife on Friday, his first album since 2019's Ignorance Is Bliss
One of the biggest names in grime is back - and he's picked his moment.
"Finally," Skepta promises BBC Newsbeat, "some good rap music, some good UK grime sounds."
The Fork and Knife has been a long time in the making. Seven years on from his last album, Ignorance Is Bliss, and more than two years since it was first teased, the rapper knows how to keep fans waiting.
But, as he's keen to point out, "you can't rush greatness".
And with a Mercury Prize, a Brit and two Ivor Novello Awards under his belt, greatness is no less than what fans expect from this titan of the rap scene.
It's taken so long in part because Skepta's got big issues in his sights, with the new album taking on everything from immigration and racism, to Brexit and culture wars.
"Every time I write a lyric, it's important for me," he says.
"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."
Skepta drew crowds at Reading and Leeds this year, 10 years on from his Mercury Prize winning album Konnichiwa