South London grime MC Stormzy was widely believed to be the biggest winner at the BRIT Awards on February 21, not only scooping two gongs for himself, but closing the show with an incendiary live performance.
The rapper beat heavyweights like Ed Sheeran and Liam Gallagher to the British Male Solo Artist prize, as well as taking home the British Album of the Year for his debut LP Gang Signs & Prayer.
Dua Lipa, who set a record as the most nominated female artist (with 5 nods), also celebrated a good night, taking home awards for British Female Solo Act, and British Breakthrough. You can see the full list of winners below.
This was the 38th incarnation of Britain’s most celebrated music awards, taking place at London’s O2 Arena. This year’s ceremony was hosted by comedian Jack Whitehall, who was general well-received by the public audience, despite being stood up for an interview by the Foo fighters, who took home the gong for International Group.
Fully expected to get butchered for that. Thank you so much for all your lovely tweets. What a show. I love Stormzy.
— Jack Whitehall (@jackwhitehall) February 21, 2018
The event was stacked with live performances too, ranging from the powerful to the confusing. Highlights from the aforementioned Foo Fighters and Stormzy were nearly overshadowed by a bizarre performance from International Male Solo Artist winner Kendrick Lamar, who seemed to have all the elements conspiring against him, after a rapturously received recent UK tour.
Taking to the stage to perform ‘FEEL.’ and ‘New Freezer’- and accompanied by Rich the Kid- Lamar faced a barrage of technical difficulties, which quickly turned to ridicule, after the performance was introduced by Lamar lying on top of a box containing a sports car, which was eventually smashed up.
Quick question: how does one apply to be Kendrick's personal car smasher?! @BRITs #BRITs2018 @kendricklamar pic.twitter.com/UngoZBkh07
— GIPHY (@GIPHY) February 21, 2018
The combination of overly ambitious stage antics, coupled with the muting of the Compton rapper’s lyrics by broadcasters ITV, caused both confusion and anger at the censorship of one of the world’s most popular artists; particularly as the performance was aired after the watershed time of 9pm GMT.
Me watching Kendrick Lamar's performance. #BRITs2018 pic.twitter.com/IypEoOhdxF
— Bradley Cates (@Bradley_Cates) February 21, 2018
Kendrick set ruined by ITV #BRITs
— Dave Orme (@DaveOrme) February 21, 2018
Thankfully the disarray of this performance didn’t throw the night’s proceedings off for long, and Stormzy’s powerful performance was given another dimension, as he targeted UK Prime Minister Theresa May, and Conservative newspaper the Daily Mail.
In a freestyled interlude between his tracks ‘Blinded by your Grace’ and ‘Big For Your Boot’s, a rain-soaked Stormzy spat “Theresa May where’s the money for Grenfell? / What you thought we just forgot about Grenfell?”
.@Stormzy1 won two #Brits awards tonight. Here is his absolutely chilling performance. So fucking moving. pic.twitter.com/6IGitLqjDj
— victoria sanusi (@victoriasanusi) February 21, 2018
The performance has already been greeted as one of the BRIT Awards’ greatest live performances, with the MC receiving the highest praise for using his position to address serious issues, particularly on a local level, in regards to the Grenfell tower fire. Stormzy has gone even further, however, creating a petition online, urging Theresa may to take further action in the currently ongoing inquiry into the disaster.
Stormzy using his platform to call out important issues such as Grenfell Tower (and telling the Daily Mail to suck one) is exactly how it should be done. #BRITs
— Sean (@seanhendrie) February 21, 2018
“Bereaved families & survivors call on PM to exercise her powers under the Inquiries Act 2005 to appoint additional panel members with decision making power to sit alongside Chair in Grenfell Tower Inquiry: to ensure those affected have confidence in & are willing to fully participate in the Inquiry,” reads the petition‘s summary.
Love you all, thank you, thank God, emotional, overwhelmed, speechless…gonna go have a drink and party with my family ❤️
— #GSAP (@Stormzy1) February 21, 2018
Brit Award Winners 2019
British male Solo Artist
Ed Sheeran
Liam Gallagher
Loyle Carner
Rag’n’Bone Man
Stormzy (WINNER)
Paloma Faith
Kate Tempest
Jessie Ware
Laura Marling
Dua Lipa (WINNER)
British Single
Calvin Harris feat. Pharrell, Katy Perry and Big Sean – ‘Feels’
Clean Bandit feat. Zara Larsson – ‘Symphony’
Dua Lipa – ‘New Rules’
Ed Sheeran – ‘Shape Of You’
J Hus – ‘Did You See’
Jax Jones feat. Raye – ‘You Don’t Know Me’
Jonas Blue feat. William Singe – ‘Mama’
Liam Payne feat. Quavo – ‘Strip That Down’
Little Mix – ‘Touch’
Rag’n’Bone Man – ‘Human’ (WINNER)
British Group
Gorillaz (WINNER)
Royal Blood
Wolf Alice
London Grammar
The xx
British Breakthrough Act
Dave
Dua Lipa (WINNER)
J Hus
Loyle Carner
Sampha
British Artist Video of the Year
Anne-Marie – ‘Ciao Adios’
Calvin Harris feat. Pharrell, Katy Perry and Big Sean – ‘Feels’
Clean Bandit feat. Zara Larsson – ‘Symphony’
Dua Lipa – ‘New Rules’
Ed Sheeran – ‘Shape Of You’
Harry Styles – ‘Sign Of The Times’ (WINNER)
Jonas Blue feat. William Singe – ‘Mama’
Liam Payne feat. Quavo – ‘Strip That Down’
Little Mix – ‘Touch’
Zayn and Taylor Swift – ‘I Don’t Wanna Live Forever’
International Female Solo Artist
Taylor Swift
Lorde (WINNER)
Björk
Pink
Alicia Keys
International Male Solo Artist
Kendrick Lamar (WINNER)
Childish Gambino
Drake
Beck
DJ Khaled
International Group
Foo Fighters (WINNER)
Arcade Fire
LCD Soundsystem
Haim
The Killers
Mastercard British Album of the Year
Rag’n’Bone Man – Human
Dua Lipa – Dua Lipa
J Hus – Common Sense
Ed Sheeran – ÷
