LONDON (Reuters) – Grime artist Stormzy scored his first No. 1 in the UK singles charts on Friday, beating U.S. songstress Taylor Swift to the top spot.
“Vossi Bop”, which features a cameo appearance from actor Idris Elba in its music video, is the London-born rapper’s first single since 2017’s “Gang Signs Prayer”, which topped the UK album charts.
The Official Charts Company said in a statement “Vossi Bop” had 12.7 million listens, allowing Storzmy to claim “the biggest week of streams ever for a rapper smashing the previous figure set by Drake’s ‘In My Feelings’ by over two million and the fifth biggest streaming week of all time”.
“Words don’t really do it justice. I’m genuinely, for once in my life, speechless,” Stormzy said in a statement, thanking his fans.
Stormzy, who will perform at June’s Glastonbury music festival, pushed down last week’s no.1 – “Old Town Road” by American rapper Lil Nas X – to no.2 while Grammy Award winner Swift’s pop duet “ME!” went into the charts at no.3.
American pop singer Pink topped the UK album charts with “Hurts 2B Human”.
(Reporting By Marie-Louise Gumuchian, Editing by William Maclean)