This year, Skepta will release his first album in seven years, a record of “party music” — an album of bangers including “Gas Me Up (Diligent)”; “Cold Outside”, a jittery club-ready collaboration with fellow grime MC Novelist; and “Deadlines”, which turns Skepta’s immigrant upbringing into autobiography.
The story behind the album title, Fork & Knife? “I started thinking about my trajectory — how I ended up being this Nigerian, British-born artist with this outlook and this understanding of gratitude and luck,” he tells us. “Like the lottery ticket of me being Skepta to my parents. One day I asked my mum how that happened. I know Nigerian people all over the world who ended up in America or Russia or Japan. So I asked her, why the UK? She explained that her dad worked in hospitality in Nigeria. He told her that when people of a certain level sit down for dinner they use a knife and fork — how it’s set up, how it’s laid out — and he wanted all his family to do well enough to live like that.”
Fresh from winning a Brit Award, Skepta is proving he isn’t just king of grime but master of the universe. He speaks to Esquire UK for the May/June issue. Read the interview at the link in our bio.
@skepta wears @louisvuitton
Editor-in-chief @teovandenbroeke
Photographer @jessicamadavo
Stylist @feranmieso
Art Director @grenadinedempsey
Style Director @zakmaoui
Luxury Director and Interview @johnnydavisesq
Entertainment Editor (Special Projects) @nicolafahey
Picture Production Editor @gemmalucia_shootproducer
Picture Editor @_abiihollister
Senior Designer @laura5heppard
Hair @tstyles___
Grooming @shanicemua_
Set Designer @charlieheathmartin
Movement Director @joegreyadams
Tailor @nafisatosh
Set Assistants: @nyk_mensah@mariashrigley@ellistudorartdept
Styling Assistants: @thuulala@alexmakubuya
Skepta began DJing before he ever picked up a microphone, drawn first to rave culture and the communal energy of pirate radio.
“When you go right back to the pirate-radio days, it was all inspired by raving,” he says. “Because I started out DJing before I was ever MCing. I was really inspired by rave culture. It was a time when I was away from my family, away from the strictness of having Nigerian parents. I was allowed to go out and be in a British rave.
“You’ve got Black people, white people, Indian people — every colour, every continent — just in the club respecting each other. Nobody being racist, nobody being prejudiced. Everyone just raving together and listening to these beats.”
Fresh from winning a Brit Award, with his first album in seven years about to drop, Skepta is proving he isn’t just king of grime but master of the universe. He speaks to Esquire UK for the May/June issue. Read the interview at the link in our bio.
Editor-in-chief @teovandenbroeke
Photographer @jessicamadavo
Stylist @feranmieso
Art Director @grenadinedempsey
Style Director @zakmaoui
Luxury Director and Interview @johnnydavisesq
Entertainment Editor (Special Projects) @nicolafahey
Picture Production Editor @gemmalucia_shootproducer
Picture Editor @_abiihollister
Senior Designer @laura5heppard
Hair @tstyles___
Grooming @shanicemua_
Set Designer @charlieheathmartin
Movement Director @joegreyadams
Tailor @nafisatosh
Set Assistants: @nyk_mensah@mariashrigley@ellistudorartdept
Styling Assistants: @thuulala@alexmakubuya
“I love the music so much, the music kind of loves me back. When I took a break from rapping and was DJing more, people on TikTok were taking lyrics from my old songs and using AI to put them on new beats. Those clips were getting millions of plays. I was thinking, aren’t there any new MCs making these tunes? If I stop rapping, are people just going to keep remixing my lyrics forever? And I thought, I can’t stop.”
Fresh from winning a Brit Award, with his first album in seven years about to drop, #Skepta is proving he isn’t just king of grime but master of the universe. He speaks to Esquire UK for the May/June issue. Read the interview at the link in our bio.
Editor-in-chief @teovandenbroeke
Photographer @jessicamadavo
Stylist @feranmieso
Art Director @grenadinedempsey
Style Director @zakmaoui
Luxury Director and Interview @johnnydavisesq
Entertainment Editor (Special Projects) @nicolafahey
Picture Production Editor @gemmalucia_shootproducer
Picture Editor @_abiihollister
Senior Designer @laura5heppard
Hair @tstyles___
Grooming @shanicemua_
Set Designer @charlieheathmartin
Movement Director @joegreyadams
Tailor @nafisatosh
Set Assistants @nyk_mensah@mariashrigley@ellistudorartdept
Styling Assistants @thuulala@alexmakubuya
Producer @dixiemooncie
DOP @edmundcurtis
Cam Assist @jesfdp
Video editor @yoana.pavlova_
Today at #CannesFilmFestival an emotional #JohnTravolta received an honorary Palme d’Or, the highest honour of the film fest. For the occasion? A fresh new look.
“There’s a place called Unsung that makes incredible boots. It’s run by two brothers, and everything is made there — lace-ups, engineer boots, riding boots. They’re rooted in traditional styles, but done with real care. I’ve had a couple of pairs made there and worn them all over the world.”
‘The Black Keys’ Dan Auerbach shares the musical hotspots and culinary highlights of his home town, Nashville, at the link in our bio.
At #CannesFilmFestival these days the clothes, arguably, steal the limelight away from the big films, which is actually, in case you forgot, why everyone is there in the first place. The 2026 festival has been no different. At the link in our bio are the best-dressed men at Cannes Film Festival so far...
Earlier this week we hosted an intimate Esquire Session with leading British actor Leo Woodall. The star of Vladimir, Nuremberg and forthcoming film Tuner (which hits cinemas May 29), spoke to Esquire’s editor-in-chief Teo van den Broeke about on-screen chemistry, performing alongside some of the biggest names in cinema, and the power of a great Hermés loafer. Thank you to @bvlgarihotellondon for hosting, and to @glenmorangie for the delicious cocktails.
To learn more about Esquire Sessions, sign up to Esquire’s Newsletters by clicking the link in bio.
Photography by @nicfordphoto
#Dior and Jonathan Anderson took to Los Angeles to stage his debut Cruise show (and the first for Dior), and naturally - this is Tinseltown - a bunch of very famous people came out to support, from #JeffGoldblum and #RoleModel to #MileyCyrus and #SabrinaCarpenter
Formula One and the South of France go hand in hand, so it makes sense that #CharlesLeclerc is showing his face at #CannesFilmFestival. His brooch was a subtle nod to Cannes’ Palm d’Or.
Photography by @gettyimages
Swatch and Audemars Piguet have finally unveiled the ‘Royal Pop’, an affordable reimagining of the luxury brand’s signature model, the Royal Oak. Esquire’s Luxury Director, Johnny Davis, breaks down what the partnership means, and why it could be great for watch culture.
We’d be smiling too, if we had a DB suit as good as that one, boots as great as those and a new role in American Horror Story, #PaulAnthonyKelly
Photography by @gettyimages
#LeoWoodall, who stars in the upcoming thriller #Tuner, made a strong case for springtime double denim during a day out in London.
Photography by @gettyimages
