Stormzy Bags U.K. Chart Hattrick With ‘This Is What I Mean’

Stormzy scores his hattrick on the U.K. albums chart with This Is What I Mean (via 0207/Merky).

The Brit Award-winning grime star edges Cliff Richard’s Christmas With Cliff (EastWest/Rhino), to make it three-from-three — a streak that includes Stormzy’s 2017 debut Gang Signs & Prayer and its 2019 followup Heavy Is The Head.

This Is What I Mean completes a “nail-biting race,” according to the Official Charts Company, as the hip-hop LP summons a “last-minute surge” to beat Richard’s first Christmas-themed set in nearly two decades, since 2003’s Cliff At Christmas. Richard now boasts 47 top 10 albums chart appearances in his homeland, a result that includes seven leaders.

Cliff At Christmas is one of several holiday-themed records making their mark on the Official U.K. Albums Chard, published Dec. 2.

Andrea, Matteo and Virginia Bocelli’s collection A Family Christmas (Decca) lifts 11-4, for a new peak; Andre Rieu & The Johann Strauss Orchestra’s Silver Bells (Decca) dips 4-8; Michael Bublé’s December juggernaut Christmas (Reprise) rises 26-13; a Christmas edition of George Ezra’s Gold Rush Kid (Columbia) is up 32-18; and Aled Jones & Russell Watson’s Christmas With Aled & Russell (BMG) improves 52-29.

The Cure‘s ninth studio album Wish (Polydor/UMR) is back in the top 10 (at No. 9), off the back of a 30th anniversary reissue featuring 24 previously-unreleased tracks.

Wish peaked at No. 1 following its release in 1992, and remains the Rock And Roll Hall of Famers’ only U.K. leader. The set also yielded the U.K. top 10 hits “High” (No. 8) and “Friday I’m In Love” (No. 6).

Following the death of Christine McVie on Nov. 30, at the age of 79, fans are finding comfort in Fleetwood Mac’s music. The band’s career retrospective 50 Years – Don’t Stop (Rhino) holds at No. 23, and their best-selling 1977 LP Rumours (Rhino/Warner Bros) climbs the chart, up 41-23, with a 43% week-on-week gain, the OCC reports.