South London star Stormzy has received an honorary degree from the University of Exeter for his “outstanding achievement in the field of higher education, philanthropy and widening participation”.
Stormzy became an honorary graduate during a ceremony University of Exeter’s Class of 2020 today (June 21).
When accepting the honour, Stormzy gave a graduation speech where he said he felt “extremely blessed”.
He said: “I have been so richly blessed by God and I don’t just mean financially, I mean with love and life and family and joy, and with peace and with purpose. So, to put it simply, I bear the fruit and I share fruit and, without sounding too fantastical, that’s just what we’re meant to do in whatever way we can.
“Some of our destinies is to save one life, some of us are destined to build nations and schools, some of us will focus on raising our families and those closest to us, some of us will help our local community, some of us will help the neighbour next door, some of us will help the world, some of us will help a friend.
“My point being that we should always share and support, uplift and help in whatever capacity we are able too. All of these different sizes and levels of being a helping hand are all beautiful and all of them are just as powerful as each other.”
Stormzy’s new honour comes as he gears up to release his highly-anticipated third studio album, which is the follow-up to his chart-topping 2019 LP Heavy Is The Head.
Since then he has launched various philanthropic projects, such as pledging £10 million to Black British causes, and he even came in at 11 on this year’s Sunday Times’ Giving List.
Stormzy ended his graduation speech by giving a shout out to his mum.
“It’s always been her biggest dream for me to go to university and graduate and then become somebody so this moment is a real full-circle one,” he said.
[Image: Henry J Kamara]