Despite being an award-winning grime artist, and someone who's on just about everyone's radar, there are still pitfalls to Stormzy's life.
On a few occasions since breaking into the mainstream, he has spoken about people's behaviour towards him because of his race.
Most recently, he revealed the racist treatment he received at a 'high-end restaurant', claiming that employees didn't believe he had the money to pay.
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"Usually when you walk in these high-end places, they'll offer you a drink, take your coat, offer you a seat," he told Hunger magazine, per Metro. "We didn't get none of that. I asked, he told me the price, and I did it like, 'Oh, you didn't think young black men are supposed to have this money, did you?'"
Despite the alleged racism, he says that it's not new at all, having been stopped a number of times as a teenager growing up in Croydon.
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"When I was growing up in Thornton Heath, from about 13 all the way up to 18, I got searched every day," he said. "[It stopped] when I stopped walking around on the streets. But now I have a nice car, so I get pulled over instead."
Before that, too, he woke up to police kicking down the door of his house, because his neighbours believed he was an intruder in the property.
He had come home from the Elle Style Awards, dressed to the nines in a H&M suit, after a long hard day of schmoozing on the red carpet, only to be rudely awakened by the sound of his door being smashed to pieces.
Understandably, you'd be a bit upset if that happened to you. Metropolitan Police haven't commented on it yet - but Stormzy wants them to pick up the bill.
The rapper has now spoken about the incident for the first time in an interview with Fader.
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"People were asking, 'You must be shocked?'" he said in the cover story. "I'm thinking, 'Bruv, I'm not fucking shocked'. As a black youth, nothing has changed. If someone doesn't know I'm Stormzy, I'm a six foot five, dark-skinned brother in an all-black tracksuit with a gold tooth and a deep voice.
"If people have views already, I'm gonna fit that view. Everybody in the hood knows, everybody in the culture knows. But it's good that now the world can see."
He went on to explain that he didn't think it was a case of mistaken identity, but rather someone not looking at the whole picture.
Stormzy explained that he believes that there were 'racial undertones' to the police being called. He thinks he was racially profiled.
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"A lot of places, I may be one of the few minorities in the building, or on the panel, or on the stage," he said.
"I'm gonna be facing a lot more of these situations. In this country, there are not enough black actors or musicians. So when someone gets there, you've got to be the voice that calls out the bullshit."
No one should have to deal with this, but it seems that Stormzy has taken it on the chin, like he does with most things.
Featured Image Credit: PA
