Skepta

From grime to the global booth

Skepta is the stage name of Joseph Olaitan Adenuga Jr., a British-Nigerian artist born in Tottenham, North London. Before becoming a central figure in grime, he started as a DJ within the Meridian Crew collective, participating in pirate radio sessions and forming his musical criteria among instrumentals, sound systems, and neighborhood culture. After the dissolution of that environment, he approached the microphone and, together with his brother Jme, helped build Boy Better Know, a key platform for the independence of British grime.

Autonomy, street, and critical acclaim

His first album, Greatest Hits, appeared in 2007, followed by Microphone Champion and Doin’ It Again. The stage that defined his cultural weight arrived with Blacklisted, That’s Not Me, Shutdown and, above all, Konnichiwa, a 2016 album that won the Mercury Prize. Since then, he has connected London with global scenes through collaborations with A$AP Rocky, Wizkid, J Balvin, Kid Cudi, Gorillaz, Tony Allen, Sammy Virji, and Fred again.., maintaining an identity marked by rhythmic precision, vocal minimalism, and a strong DIY ethic.

Más Tiempo and the house pulse

In 2023, he opened a new electronic chapter with Más Tiempo, a house label and project co-founded with Jammer. From there, he has released music such as Mas Murder, Touch Me, and Can’t Play Myself, a house tribute to Amy Winehouse, in addition to promoting sets oriented towards house, tech house, and club energy. This facet does not appear as a break, but as a return to his origin as a selector: Skepta returns to the booth with the background of an MC who understands bass, space, and the reaction of the dancefloor.

Big Smoke, Ibiza, and creative present

His recent activity combines music, visual direction, fashion, painting, and cultural programming. With Big Smoke Festival, he brought his own event to London where rap, grime, amapiano, and electronic music coexist, while Más Tiempo has gained presence at KOKO London, DC10 Ibiza, Ushuaïa Ibiza, Glastonbury, The Loft Amsterdam, and Hï Ibiza, where the project has a weekly residency in 2026 alongside Black Coffee's season. Releases like Cops & Robbers, Victory Lap, and Más Tiempo Vol. 2 reinforce his position as a hybrid figure: a grime pioneer, a producer with a club ear, and a DJ capable of translating the attitude of Tottenham to large international stages.