The king of Grime is no stranger to world recognition, but it would seem something very close to his heart is the noble cause of his most recent actions.
Having already said last June in a cover interview for The Fader that he wanted to give back to his parents (who are both Nigerian), “I want to give them that house in Nigeria”, he says in the very interview.” Finished, done, built. For them to look back and say, “You know what? That’s what we went to England for.”
His parents have since moved back to Nigeria, and last night Skepta shared heart warming pictures on Instagram of a playground he has helped build in his father’s village which was opened Saturday 27th February by his mother.
“Me and my dad been talking about making a place for the children to play in his village in Nigeria. He sent me these pics and my heart is smiling. I told him to wait for me to come and add the finishing touches but he wanted my mum to open it before she flew to London tomorrow haha, sweet boy ting, safe journey mum. Love”, he added on the first of three Instagram posts.
In another post we can see Skepta’s mother officially opening the playground with the heartfelt caption “The Queen, Mrs Adenuga opening the playground – Ijebu Ode, Nigeria. February 27th 2016”.
It seems Skeppy is keen to develop this playground and in another positive mention from the man himself, “Gonne keep developing this playground and hope we inspire kids to get into activities and maybe find talents they never knew they had. More life.”
In a time where modern society says we are lacking in positive role models I can only beg to differ. We should be showing the world not only do the artists we like make phenomenal bodies of work, which inspire future generations to do the same, but they also sacrifice and give back to causes that go beyond the call of music and entertainment.
The king of Grime can also be crowned the king of hearts. Long live the king!