''Conflict of Interest'' is the third studio album by British rapper

Ghetts Justin Clarke, better known by his stage name Ghetts (formerly Ghetto), is a British grime MC, rapper and songwriter. His music has been played on national radio stations such as BBC Radio 1, Kiss 100, BBC Asian Network, and BBC Radio 1Xtra. Cur ...

, released on 19 February 2021 by Ghetts Limited and

Warner Records Warner Records Inc. (formerly Warner Bros. Records Inc.) is an American record label. A subsidiary of the Warner Music Group, it is headquartered in Los Angeles, California. It was founded on March 19, 1958, as the recorded music division of the ...

. It includes guest appearances from

Skepta Chief Joseph Olaitan Adenuga Jr. (born 19 September 1982), known professionally as Skepta, is a British-Nigerian grime MC, rapper and record producer. Alongside his younger brother Jme, he briefly joined Roll Deep before they became founding ...

Dave Dave may refer to: Film, television, and theater * ''Dave'' (film), a 1993 film starring Kevin Kline and Sigourney Weaver * ''Dave'' (musical), a 2018 stage musical adaptation of the film * Dave (TV channel), a digital television channel in the ...

Wretch 32 Jermaine Sinclaire Scott (born 9 March 1985), better known by his stage name Wretch 32, is a British rapper, singer and songwriter from Tottenham, North London. He was a member of the grime collective Combination Chain Gang, before forming The M ...

, Giggs,

Stormzy Michael Ebenezer Kwadjo Omari Owuo Jr. (born 26 July 1993), known professionally as Stormzy, is a British rapper, singer and songwriter. In 2014, he gained attention on the UK underground music scene through his ''Wicked Skengman'' series of f ...

Ed Sheeran Edward Christopher Sheeran (; born 17 February 1991) is an English singer-songwriter. Born in Halifax, West Yorkshire and raised in Framlingham, Suffolk, he began writing songs around the age of eleven. In early 2011, Sheeran independently r ...

Emeli Sandé Adele Emily Sandé, ( ; born 10 March 1987), known professionally as Emeli Sandé, is a Scottish singer and songwriter. Born in Sunderland, Tyne and Wear, and raised in Alford, Aberdeenshire, Scotland, by an English mother and a Zambian fathe ...

, and more.

Release and promotion

Ghetts announced ''Conflict of Interest'' on 28 January 2021 alongside its cover art, tracklist and release date. Five singles were released prior to the album: "Mozambique" featuring

Jaykae Janum Khan, better known by his stage name Jaykae, is a British rapper and actor from Small Heath, Birmingham. Music career Jaykae's start with music began when he started listening to other grime artists from London. In 2017 he released a si ...

and

Moonchild Sanelly Sanelisiwe Twisha (born 1987), known professionally as Moonchild Sanelly is a South African musician and dancer. She is known for her signature blue-coloured hair and her self-created music genre called "Future ghetto punk". Originally from P ...

, "IC3" featuring

, "Proud Family", "Skengman" featuring

and "No Mercy" featuring BackRoad Gee and

Pa Salieu Pa Salieu Gaye (born 1 July 1997) is a British rapper and singer. In January 2020, he released his debut single "Frontline", which was the most-played track of 2020 on BBC Radio 1Xtra. He has since featured on songs with South London's SL for "H ...

. A two-part documentary titled ''The Evolution of Ghetts'' was released on

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Critical reception

Metacritic Metacritic is a website that review aggregator, aggregates reviews of films, TV shows, music albums, video games and formerly, books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted arithmetic mean, weighted average). M ...

, which assigns a normalised rating out of 100 based on reviews from mainstream critics, ''Conflict of Interest'' received a score of 95 out of 100, based on reviews from 7 critics. In a five-star review, Kyann-Sian Williams of ''

NME ''New Musical Express'' (''NME'') is a British music, film, gaming, and culture website and brand. Founded as a newspaper in 1952, with the publication being referred to as a 'rock inkie', the NME would become a magazine that ended up as a f ...

'' concluded ''Conflict of Interest'' is Ghetts' "most earnest record to date", adding that "The rapper's third studio record and first on a major label, showcasing his growth over nearly two decades in the game, proves lyricism is in rude health." Alexis Petridis of ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...

'' praised the album's production, stating: "The arrangements are beautifully done, subtle rather than showy, a key factor in establishing the album's overwhelming mood." Petridis concluded that "''Conflict of Interest'' feels like the work of an artist who's in it for the long haul rather than short-term rewards."

Track listing

Notes * "Fire and Brimstone" features additional vocals by

Dizzee Rascal Dylan Kwabena Mills (born 18 September 1984), better known by his stage name Dizzee Rascal, is a British MC and rapper. A pioneer of grime music, his work has also incorporated elements of UK garage, bassline, British hip hop, and R&B. Dizze ...

. * "Proud Family" features additional vocals by Zahrah Anderson.

Personnel

Performers *

– primary artist *

– featured artist *

– featured artist * Aida Lae – featured artist *

– featured artist *

– featured artist * BackRoad Gee – featured artist *

– featured artist * Giggs – featured artist * Miraa May – featured artist *

– featured artist * Hamzaa – featured artist *

– featured artist Technical * TJ Amadi – executive producer, production * Shezhed Zar – programming * Wez Clarke – mixing * Joe LaPorta – mixing, mastering * Ian Opuku – piano * Rio Willis – programming * Swindle – string recording engineer, horns engineer * Neil Waters – string arranger * Kadeem Clarke – guitar * Joe Hirst – mixing * Ten Billion Dreams – production, additional mixing

Charts

References

{{Authority control 2021 albums Ghetts albums