UK grime star Stormzy to headline at Sonar Hong Kong 2020

UK grime star Stormzy will be one of the headliners at Spanish electronic music festival Sónar when it returns for its fourth outing in Hong Kong on March 28, 2020.

Stormzy announced this afternoon over social media that Hong Kong will be one of just four Asian stops on his world tour next year — the others are Tokyo, Seoul, and Shanghai — and he was confirmed as the closing act for SonarVillage, one of the main stages at Sonar Hong Kong.

He’s currently promoting his second album Heavy Is The Head.

This will be Stormzy’s first time performing at Sonar Hong Kong, and his second time performing in the SAR, having made his Hong Kong debut at Clockenflap 2017.

In a few short years, he’s gone from a viral star whose first hit, “Shut Up,” currently has more than 96 million views on YouTube, to being the undisputed king of grime and one of the most prominent UK rappers of his generation.

After Clockenflap 2017, he went on to make history as the first black solo British headliner to take to the iconic pyramid stage at Glastonbury 2019, opening his set by appearing on stage in a stab vest with the Union Jack on it to highlight the problem of gang violence in the UK.

Aside from his music, he’s also made a name for himself as a philanthropist, announcing in 2018 that he would pay tuition fees and living expenses for two black British students to go to the University of Cambridge. In October, his announcement was credited with a modest increase in the number of black students being admitted to the top university, a bump that was labelled “the Stormzy effect.”

Tickets will go on sale at 9:00am, Dec. 6, and the full festival lineup will be announced in the coming weeks.

Event organizers have not yet announced details of the in-festival conference Sónar+D, which will feature a number of technology-driven attractions, so watch this space for more details on that.

WHAT: Sónar Hong Kong
WHEN: Saturday, March 28
WHERE: Hong Kong Science Park, Shatin, New Territories
PRICE: HK$680 for the early bird Sonar Pass (all outdoor activities from 12pm to 10:45pm, and all indoor activities from 12pm to 10:15pm) HK$780 for the early SonarPass and Late night pass (all activities from 12pm to 3am).

Read more music and showbiz news at Coconuts HK.