Stormzy at Glastonbury 2019 review – a glorious victory lap for black British culture

Pyramid Stage
Not only is this headline performance a show of supreme talent, it also underlines how Stormzy’s talent and charisma has pushed forward UK rap

The notion of Stormzy headlining the Pyramid Stage at Glastonbury is an intriguing one. On the one hand, an artist who’s only released one album being elevated to such a rarefied status – up there with Jay-Z, Paul McCartney, U2 and the Rolling Stones – seems unprecedented. On the other, a persistent rumour around the site suggests that Stormzy’s show cost more to stage than any other in the festival’s history. That may or may not represent one of the histrionic myths that annually circulates around Worthy Farm – festival-goers with long enough memories to remember Glastonbury before the arrival of the internet and its fact-checking powers may recall the story that used to go around in the 90s that Cliff Richard had unexpectedly died. But watching Stormzy perform, you can believe it. His set opens with the kind of pyrotechnics that most acts would use to triumphantly conclude their performance and it doesn’t really let up from that point on.

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from The Guardian https://ift.tt/2RH9z7v