Skepta is the stage name of Joseph Junior Adenuga, a grime MC, producer and DJ from Tottenham in London. Born in 1982, he is associated with the North London grime scene and works across grime, hip hop and house. He is also linked with Roll Deep, Meridian and Boy Better Know.

Background

Skepta is of Nigerian heritage and moves from Lagos to London at the age of three. His family background also traces further back to Ethiopia, to the Falash Mura community. He begins using the name Skepta after taking inspiration from the word “sceptre” and changing the spelling to create a distinctive stage name.

Career

He starts his music career after winning an MC battle with more than 300 contestants, beating Tempa T in the final. He becomes known in Greater London for the track “Private Caller”, which he produces and which features members of Meridian Crew from Meridian Walk in Tottenham.

Alongside his brother JME, Skepta helps establish Boy Better Know in late 2005, with Skepta as managing director and JME as CEO. The label releases Shut Yuh Mut - Boy Better Know Edition 1 in early 2006, and later supports mixtapes by artists including Frisco, Wiley, JME and Skepta.

Releases and chart success

Skepta releases Greatest Hits in September 2007, and it is distributed nationwide. He also releases three singles from his third studio album Doin’ It Again, his first major-label album. Those singles are “Bad Boy”, “Rescue Me” and “Cross My Heart” featuring Preeya Kalidas. He also puts out a grime remix of “Hello Good Morning”. All of these singles enter the UK Singles Chart top 40, with “Rescue Me” reaching number 14 and “Cross My Heart” reaching number 31.

Other associations

Skepta has a connection with Roll Deep, and Wiley later leaves that crew after achieving mainstream chart success and co-founding it. Skepta and Wiley exchange diss tracks, including Wiley’s “Barnet” and Skepta’s “House in the Country”, before stating that the dispute is false.

Label work

He later records on and works with All Around The World, a division of Universal Records, which promotes his videos and premieres his tracks through its official website.

Later label output

Más Tiempo is listed among his labels, and Skepta remains associated with grime as well as hip hop and house.