Skepta's new album has a date. The Fork and Knife arrives on November 6 through his own Big Smoke label with Epic, and it is the most personal thing he has put his name to. The official description frames it as a record rooted in contemporary Britain, built from grime, garage, house, jungle and electronic music, with Skepta working as rapper, writer and producer at once.
A record about where he comes from
The theme is identity. Skepta is the son of Nigerian immigrants, and the album treats that double inheritance as a strength rather than a tension, the diaspora experience as a kind of superpower. The visual world around it pulls from 1980s Nigerian British family imagery, football culture and a documentary style realism that also nods to the Windrush generation. The cover says it plainly: an old family photograph of a mother and a small boy with a book, under hand painted red lettering. No gloss, no flex, just the archive.
That is a sharp turn for an artist whose name has been shorthand for grime's global moment for a long time. Instead of chasing a bigger sound, he is going back to the kitchen table, and the title fits. Knife and fork, the everyday tools of a household, set next to a story about how a London family built a life.
Fifteen tracks and a very deep bench
The official tracklist runs fifteen songs, opening with Secrets of Patriarchy and closing on Victory Lap with Fred again.. and PlaqueBoyMax. In between, the features read like a map of British music right now and a few decades back. Novelist is on Outside. Project Pat turns up on Cold Shower. Asake joins for Aloe Vera, Aya Nakamura shares Chippie, and Broken Hearts pairs Central Cee with Jorja Smith.
The wildest credit is Innocent Smile, which brings in Suggs alongside Chase & Status. Then Belly turns into a full posse cut with Bossman Birdie, Frisco, JME, Kibo, Kruz Leone, Mayhem NODB and Queenie. Some of these songs have been out for a while. Gas Me Up (Diligent) first landed in January 2024, Victory Lap in June 2025, Chippie in May 2026 and Pandora's Box on October 23, so the album collects a run of singles and frames them inside a bigger story.
Formats and where to get it
The official store has the album on a crystal clear double LP that is exclusive to the store, a standard black double LP and a CD. You can pre-save through the official album link or line it up on Apple Music, and the Pandora's Box visualiser sits on his official YouTube channel.
Why it matters
This one is Surfacing. Big name albums usually go wider. This one goes deeper, into family, migration and what British culture actually sounds like from the inside, with a guest list that bridges the pirate radio era and the streaming one. It sits right next to the ideas in the Design Museum's Nue Black Aesthetic survey, and if you want more London heading in a personal direction, Moses Boyd's Songs For Sinners is the other record to hear this month. If the clear vinyl is on your list, our guide to record storage and display will help it land somewhere good.
