Stormzy Defends Meghan Markle In Passionate New Song “Please”

The wait is finally over. After teasing fans with a handful of singles, Stormzy is officially back with third album,“This is What I Mean.” Created on Essex’s Osea island with a tight-knit team of collaborators, the record is his most reflective yet, turning to a quieter, more introspective sound underpinned by gospel backing vocals. His first release since 2019’s “Heavy Is The Head” — the album which hosted his first ever number one single “Vossi Bop” and propelled him to a Glastonbury headliner slot — it marks a distinct gear shift. While standalone single “Mel Made Me Do It” was a seven-minute-long epic, taking stock of the rapper’s meteoric rise with a quick wit, the new album “This is What I Mean” is more focused on personal journeys and self-acceptance instead.

“Please could you pause the applause? Please could you let me be flawed?” he asks on the piano-led song “Please.” Speaking to i-D about the track, Stormzy said: “The word ‘please’ is so multifaceted. There’s a vulnerability to it, a desperateness; there’s so many ways you can say ‘please.’ I thought about what ‘please’ means to me. It wasn’t something defiant.

“It was about letting everything roll out. I wanted to do something that wasn’t premeditated. It became a confession. It was very therapeutic. […] We all knew it was a special moment when we made it. We actually have a reprise of it on the album [“Sampha’s Plea”] as well.”

Whilst reflecting on his own feelings around forgiveness and imperfection, Stormzy also mentions another person in the first verse — borrowing a phrase from Chris Crocker and his viral video “Leave Britney Alone.” “Please, could you lower your tone? Please, could you get off my phone? And please, leave Meghan alone,” he raps. And later on in the song comes another royal-adjacent mention, as Stormzy says: “You wanna speak, but it's best that you don't. Under pressure we fold. Best believe we're protecting your throne.

Though Stormzy hasn’t confirmed who exactly he’s referencing either, it certainly seems likely that he’s talking about Meghan Markle, the Duchess of Sussex. Previously, Stormzy has defended Markle against the intense media criticism she’s been subjected to, saying there’s no “credible” reason to dislike her. "Meghan is a sweet woman, she does her thing... and they just hate her,” he told New York radio station Hot 97.

Read the lyrics for “Please” in full, below:

Oh-woah, oh-oh, oh, yeah, yeah, yeah

Oh, please, please

Oh, please, oh, please, yeah

Woah, woah, woah, oh, please

Please, could you lower your tone? (Please)

Please, could you get off my phone? (Oh, please)

And please, leave Meghan alone

I said, please, leave Meghan alone (Woah, woah, woah, oh, please)

It cuts deep when you deep that your house was nеver your home

You wanna speak but it's bеst that you don't (Please)

Under pressure we fold

Best believe we're protectin' your throne (Oh, please, oh, please)

I had to let it be known, we eventually grow (Woah, woah, woah, oh, please)

I'm a sensitive soul, please, could you pause the applause? (Oh, please)

Please could let me be flawed? (Oh, please)

And please, leave your pain at the door

Yeah, it's too much in this house and I can't bear anymore (Woah, woah, woah, oh, please)

Please, spare me a fall

Please, Lord, give me the strength to forgive my dad for he is (Oh, please) flawed l and so am I so who am I to not (Oh, please)

To not forgive a man who tries, I see his soul, I know it cries (Woah, woah, woah, oh, please)

But with this pain I'd rather

With this pain I'd rather paint (Oh, please)

And try to turn this broken picture into something it ain't (Oh, please)

This pain I'll rather hold because it's made me who I am (Woah, woah, woah, oh, please)

It's probably time I let it go, I free myself from myself

I free youth from regret (Oh, please)

I grant you peace before you rest and that's the least that you should get (Oh, please)

I think we've both suffered enough, please

Woah, woah, woah, oh, please, please

Oh, please, oh

Woah, woah, woah, oh, please, please

Oh, please

Woah, woah, woah, oh