Vossi Bop

"Vossi Bop" is a song by British rapper Stormzy. It was released as a single on 25 April 2019 through #Merky and Atlantic Records as the lead single from his second studio album, Heavy Is the Head. The music video was also released the same day. It is his first solo music since his Gang Signs & Prayer album in 2017.[2] The song debuted atop the UK Singles Chart, becoming Stormzy's first number-one single.

"Vossi Bop"
Single by Stormzy
from the album Heavy Is the Head
Released25 April 2019 (2019-04-25)
GenreBritish hip hop[1]
Length3:16
Label
Songwriter(s)
Producer(s)Chris Andoh
Stormzy singles chronology
"Let Me Down"
(2018)		 "Vossi Bop"
(2019)		 "Shine Girl"
(2019)
Music video
"Vossi Bop" on YouTube

Background

Stormzy first penned this song around 2015 to 2016 after meeting a fan by the name of "Vossi" who he met and saw energetically dancing to one of his songs.[3] The song is Stormzy's first new music as a lead artist since 2017, when he released his UK number-one album Gang Signs & Prayer. During his time away, he pursued interests outside of music.[2]

Upon the song's release, Stormzy corrected several users on Twitter who had misheard the first line as "My bruddas don't die, we just Vossi bop", stressing that it was "dab" and not "die".[4]

'Fuck Boris'

The song features an explicit indignant statement towards Boris Johnson, then Foreign Secretary and eventual British Prime Minister at the time of its production and release which goes: “I could never die, I’m Chuck Norris / fuck the government, fuck Boris”.[3]

Stormzy made the line part of a crowd sing-along during his live performance at the 2019 Glastonbury Festival, which was telecasted live by the BBC.[5] In December of the same year, he did the same with Harry Styles during a private concert by the latter.[6]

Music video

The music video was directed by Henry Scholfield and released on 25 April 2019.[7] It features Stormzy rapping on Westminster Bridge and outside the Bank of England. Idris Elba makes a guest appearance.[8]

Remixes

Four remixes of the song were released on 19 July 2019. Respectively, they featured Norwegian artist Lauren, Italian rapper Ghali, Swedish duo Aden x Asme, and German rappers Bausa and Capo.

Commercial performance

On the midweek UK Singles Chart, Stormzy was at number one, ahead of "Me!" by Taylor Swift featuring Brendon Urie by some 500 combined sales.[7] Several media outlets, including the BBC and Noisey, made note that it could be Stormzy's first UK number-one single.[7][2] The song debuted at number one on the official chart ahead of previous number one, "Old Town Road" by Lil Nas X, and Swift's "Me!" at numbers two and three, respectively.[9] "Vossi Bop" also received 12.7 million streams in its debut week on sale, the highest ever by a rapper and the fifth-highest of all time.[10]

Charts

Certifications
Region CertificationCertified units/sales
Australia (ARIA)[24] 3× Platinum 210,000‡
Denmark (IFPI Danmark)[25] Platinum 90,000‡
United Kingdom (BPI)[26] 3× Platinum 1,800,000‡
Streaming
Sweden (GLF)[27] Platinum 8,000,000†

‡ Sales+streaming figures based on certification alone.
† Streaming-only figures based on certification alone.

References
  1. Wolfson, Sam (3 May 2019). "Tracks of the week reviewed: FKA twigs, Bruce Springsteen, Stormzy". The Guardian. Retrieved 6 May 2019.
  2. "Stormzy on Glastonbury, Idris and his new single". BBC. 1 May 2019. Retrieved 3 May 2019.
  3. Reilly, Nick (26 April 2019). "Stormzy takes aim at Boris Johnson on new track 'Vossi Bop'". NME. Retrieved 10 June 2023.
  4. "Stormzy Addresses Hilarious 'Vossi Bop' Lyrics Confusion On Twitter". Capital Xtra. 1 May 2019. Retrieved 3 May 2019.
  5. Loughrey, Clarisse (29 June 2019). "Stormzy gets Glastonbury crowd to shout 'F**k Boris' live on the BBC". The Independent. Retrieved 10 June 2023.
  6. Welsh, Daniel (20 December 2019). "Harry Styles And Stormzy Declare 'F*** The Government And F*** Boris' During Surprise Duet". HuffPost UK. Retrieved 10 June 2023.
  7. Mokoena, Tshepo (30 April 2019). "Stream "Vossi Bop," Buy "Vossi Bop" and Get Stormzy to Number 1". Noisey. Retrieved 3 May 2019.
  8. Welsh, Daniel (26 April 2019). "Stormzy Lays Into Boris Johnson In Music Video For New Single Vossi Bop". HuffPost UK. Retrieved 10 June 2023.
  9. "Official Singles Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 4 May 2019.
  10. Ainsley, Helen (3 May 2019). "Stormzy scores debut Number 1 on the Official Singles Chart with Vossi Bop: 'Words don't really do it justice. I'm genuinely, for once in my life, speechless!'". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 3 May 2019.
  11. "Stormzy – Vossi Bop". ARIA Top 50 Singles. Retrieved 15 June 2019.
  12. "Stormzy – Vossi Bop" (in Dutch). Ultratip. Retrieved 25 May 2019.
  13. "Stormzy – Vossi Bop". Tracklisten. Retrieved 22 May 2019.
  14. "Irish-charts.com – Discography Stormzy". Irish Singles Chart. Retrieved 4 May 2019.
  15. "Savaitės klausomiausi (TOP 100)" (in Lithuanian). AGATA. 10 May 2019. Retrieved 3 December 2019.
  16. "Stormzy – Vossi Bop". Top 40 Singles. Retrieved 10 May 2019.
  17. "Official Scottish Singles Sales Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 4 May 2019.
  18. "Stormzy – Vossi Bop". Singles Top 100. Retrieved 26 July 2019.
  19. "Official Hip Hop and R&B Singles Chart Top 40". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 28 June 2019.
  20. White, Jack (9 January 2020). "Ireland's Official Top 50 biggest songs of 2019". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 11 January 2020.
  21. "Årslista Singlar, 2019". Sverigetopplistan. Retrieved 14 January 2020.
  22. Copsey, Rob (1 January 2020). "The Official Top 40 biggest songs of 2019". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 1 January 2020.
  23. "End of Year Singles Chart Top 100 – 2020". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 5 January 2021.
  24. "ARIA Charts – Accreditations – 2022 Singles" (PDF). Australian Recording Industry Association. Retrieved 5 September 2022.
  25. "Danish single certifications – Stormzy – Own It". IFPI Danmark. Retrieved 1 October 2021.
  26. "British single certifications – Stormzy – Vossi Bop". British Phonographic Industry. Retrieved 8 March 2022.
  27. "Veckolista Singlar, vecka 47, 2019 | Sverigetopplistan" (in Swedish). Sverigetopplistan. Retrieved 14 July 2020. Scroll to position 86 to view certification.
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