Today (25 November) marks the release of Stormzy's third album This Is What I Mean, and just before the release, Stormzy shared a letter to his fans on socials detailing why he wanted to make the album, and revealing that he's "perfectly fine" with people not liking it.

"I feel like I overshare, which makes me feel naked at times," Stormzy wrote. "But I do it so that you guys can understand me a bit better and to give the art that I make some context."

He continued, "I'm never tryna do what is unexpected of me or what is expected of me. If I rap for seven minutes, it's because in my spirit, in that moment, I just really wanted to fucking 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."

Later, he added, "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 you listened with openness. I pray that it moves you and captures your imagination. And I pray that someone, somewhere feels it."

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by STORMZY (@stormzy)

This Is What I Mean follows Stormzy's 2019 album Heavy Is The Head, and features contributions from Sampha, Debbie, Ms Banks, tendai, Amaarae, Nao, Scribz Riley, Ayanna and many more.