Konnichiwa is a sign that Skepta is at his best when he does things his own way. After chasing the mainstream and deciding that it wasn't worth the fuss if it meant rubbing shoulders in the studio with Diddy, Skepta's return to form in recent times with Shutdown and That's Not Me have whetted appetites for this new album.
Forget about seeing this as grime’s worldwide leap forward and view it instead as an accomplished shape-shifter who has come up the hard way with graft and guile working some streetwise magic on a bunch of jagged tunes.
There are some shining pop-ish diamonds such as Numbers with Pharrell Williams, but the real meat and potatoes are the edgy tracks like Crime Riddim and Lyrics.
Throughout, you can see Skepta taking in the view from his Tottenham perch and realising that there’s much more to come.
