The end of the year tends to be mostly uneventful when it comes to new music releases, but Stormzy put his stamp on the holiday season with his third album, This Is What I Mean, which dropped today (November 25). Ahead of the release, he shared a personal letter inspired by Tyler The Creator.

The message concludes with Stormzy’s hopes for the new project: “People been tryna box me in for years but I hope this chapter at least makes my biggest critic say, ‘Hey, he’s sh*t but he loves music and I guess he’s gonna do whatever me likes’ lol. I pray you listen to this album in your own time, whenever you can. Listen to it properly with no distractions. I pray you listen to this album with an open heart and if you hate it after I promise to god I’m perfectly fine with that, I’m just grateful that you listened with openness. I pray that it moves you and captures your imagination. And I pray that someone, somewhere feels it.”

Read the full letter below.

“When Tyler, The Creator released the masterpiece that is ‘Igor’ he shared a message with it and I wanted to do the same but I was hesitant. Mainly because I would love for my music to do all the talking but I thought I’d share this message anyway.

I do a lot of interviews and I forget that everything I say will be shared far and wide, which is probably naive of me. Things that I say in real life don’t feel the same when I see it in text. I feel like I overshare, which makes me feel naked at times. But I do it so that you guys can understand me a bit better and to give the art that I make some context. I’m never ever purposely trying to defy genres or go against the grain. I’m never tryna do what is unexpected of me or what is expected of me. If I rap for 7 minutes it’s because in my spirit, in that moment, I just really wanted to f*cking rap. If I sing my heart out then it’s because my soul just absolutely had to. I love music. I love, love loveeeee music. I will rap for the rest of my life. I will sing for the rest of my life, I will make art for the rest of my life. And at no point will I ever do any of those things for any other reason than I just wanted to and it just felt good. I am not a calculated mastermind with the ability to gauge what kind of music to make and when I’ll make it, I literally just feel and then let it out. People been tryna box me in for years but I hope this chapter at least makes my biggest critic say, ‘Hey, he’s sh*t but he loves music and I guess he’s gonna do whatever me likes’ lol. I pray you listen to this album in your own time, whenever you can. Listen to it properly with no distractions. I pray you listen to this album with an open heart and if you hate it after I promise to god I’m perfectly fine with that, I’m just grateful that you listened with openness. I pray that it moves you and captures your imagination. And I pray that someone, somewhere feels it.

This is what I mean
and it’s what l’ve always meant.

God bless. Stormz x.”