For years, Skepta has occupied a unique space in music. Once the poster boy of gritty, bass-heavy grime emanating from the council estates of Tottenham, he’s since transformed into a global tastemaker. 

Emerging from the grime renaissance of the mid-2000s, he weathered the genre’s ebbs and flows. Since his Mercury Prize-winning album Konnichiwa, Skepta has danced between the gritty grime sound that made him a legend and explorations into house, trap, and electronic spheres. His new single, “Alpha Omega” reflects this duality perfectly. Co-produced by trap pioneer Lex Luger, alongside Deedotwill and Thrilla, the track arrives as a muscular hybrid of grime’s taut energy and the expansive menace of Southern hip-hop. It provides a clean and sharp canvas for Skepta’s playful yet biting lyricism, as he alternates between swaggering bravado and self-aware wit.

While the track nods to Skepta’s grime roots, it leans heavily on transatlantic trap elements. The influence of Southern rap icons like Three 6 Mafia is palpable, yet Skepta’s unmistakable cadence ensures the track remains firmly his own. His ability to adapt, flipping seamlessly between styles, buttresses why he’s regarded not just as a cornerstone of UK grime but as a global rap innovator.

The accompanying On the Radar live performance contextualizes the track further. It strips away the gloss, revealing Skepta’s livewire energy in its purest form. Shot in New York, it’s a visual and auditory declaration that, even in an era of genre-fluid rap, Skepta’s presence is commanding and significant. It’s an apt pairing for a track that feels engineered for the live stage, a club-ready anthem that also serves as a demonstration of microgenre fluidity.