Skepta has released Innocent Smile, a single that puts him alongside Chase & Status and Suggs of Madness, out through Big Smoke Records and Epic. It is a peculiar combination on paper and a fairly logical one in practice, given where his last two years have taken him.
The important detail is one our earlier note missed. The song is lifted from a forthcoming album, The Fork and Knife, which Clash names in its own standfirst. We had this filed as a standalone single with no album attached, which was wrong: the record has been public knowledge here since Skepta aired three songs from it at Reading in August.
Clash describes that album as shaped by Skepta's connection to the whole pantheon of homegrown British music, from grime and garage through house, jungle and rave. Innocent Smile fits the description: brazen wordplay over a high-octane big beat backing, which the outlet calls a distinctly British amalgam and which continues his pivot toward club-facing production.
The video follows the same instinct. Aidan Zamiri directed it, taking cues from British cinema and the cultural ephemera of the 2000s, which for anyone who grew up on early grime videos is a more pointed reference than nostalgia for its own sake.
The route here has been unusual. Stereogum's read is that the North London rapper has spent recent years taking his career somewhere unexpected: a collaborative EP with Fred again.. last year, then a move into being a DJ himself, with the Mas Tiempo residency in the Club Room at Hi Ibiza and an EDM EP to go with it. We covered his booking for the club's 2026 closing party alongside Black Coffee.
Earlier this year he released a transitional EP, Mas Tiempo Vol. 2, and featured on Chippie by the French artist Aya Nakamura. Innocent Smile is him back to rapping, but with the club energy he picked up along the way still running underneath it.
No release date for The Fork and Knife has been published. Confirmed dates are tracked on the release calendar, and the rest of our coverage sits on the hip-hop hub.
The facts
- Skepta released the single Innocent Smile on 18 September 2026.
- Chase & Status and Suggs of Madness feature on it.
- It is out through Big Smoke Records and Epic.
- Clash says it is lifted from a forthcoming album, The Fork and Knife.
- Aidan Zamiri directed the video, drawing on 2000s British cinema.
- Skepta released a collaborative EP with Fred again.. last year.
- He holds a DJ residency, Mas Tiempo, in Hi Ibiza's Club Room.
- Earlier this year he released the EP Mas Tiempo Vol. 2.
How this checks out
Developing
Reported by 2 independent outlets
A few outlets have it so far, short of the bar we set for confirmed.
Cited sources 2
Every outlet that reported this, linked to what it published. Equal credits, in alphabetical order.