Skepta debuts new music at UK's Reading Festival

Mercury-Prize winning English rapper and producer Skepta took time away from his Más Tiempo residency at Hï Ibiza to make an epic appearance at the UK’s Reading Festival, where the star debuted new music from his forthcoming album Folk & Knife.

Nigerian artist Slawn joined Skepta on stage, live spray-painting the set as Skepta performed, creating an artwork in real time. For the track “Toxic”, Skepta kept a promise: he was joined on stage by two fans who loved the track so much when working as security at Playboi Carti’s London show, they joined in with the crowd and reportedly lost their jobs, leading to a viral moment.

Fork & Knife, Skepta’s forthcoming studio album, “sees the artist enter his next musical era, drawing on grime, garage, house, jungle and electronic influences”. The much anticipated album was slated for an early 2026 release after being delayed in 2024, but all signs point to an imminent drop, with the artist confirming in July that the album is “finished and handed in”. The title connects to a comment made by Skepta’s grandfather to his mother about working hard so eventually they could "eat with a knife and folk”.

Watch the performance here