It’s been a long time since Wretch 32 established himself as British rap’s new poster boy. In 2011 alone, he released a trio of top five singles with Traktor, Unorthodox and the chart-topping Don’t Go, all taken from ‘Black and White’, a second album steeped in tales of a reckless youth. Now aged 40, ‘Home?’ gloriously captures a sense of maturity that shows his attention is now driven in more worthwhile directions.
Wretch’s seventh album is centred on the idea of what home really is. As a second-generation British-Jamaican man, he wrestles philosophically with the ideas of acceptance and inclusion. “If the shoe fits I hope it’s polished / tryna put the best foot forward / cuh they tryna take you off it,” he spits on Transitional Chapter, displaying a passion and fire that treads the line between sage and seething.
Black and British and Home Sweet Home, meanwhile, sit at the heart of the record both literally and figuratively, putting the themes of race and belonging under the microscope.
Windrush, too, shows Wretch deep in his lyrical bag as he sounds off: “You wanna put your heel on my soul / so you can step on me and pull my roots out / ‘cos you don’t want me to grow.”
Features from some of Wretch's starry peers in Kano and Ghetts make grime’s ability to be hard and thoughtful in equal measure crystal clear, while Little Simz, Protoje, Skip Marley and Skrapz all elevate their respective tracks to stunning highs.
The album never slumps, either, even when it steps away from the emotional heft at its core. Seven Seater sounds as focused and tough as ever, and Nesta Marley feels ripe for soundtracking a gorgeous summer’s day.
All told, ‘Home?’ is a new high for Wretch 32. Commercially, it won’t touch ‘Black and White’, nor does it have the kind of immediately shareable snapshots that will thrive under the social media spotlight, but it absolutely shows that his pen is sharper than ever, and is the result of a life lived fully and wisely. Give the man his flowers.
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