Songfacts®:

• As one of the UK's leading rappers, Stormzy is a voice of the young black youth. During this melodic track, he talks about his struggles to deal with the responsibility.
  
  I tried to be grateful and count all my blessings
  But heavy is the head that wears the crown
  
  Being at the top of the rap game places a huge amount of pressure on Stormzy.
• Stormzy is backed on the track by a seven-piece choir, the UK-based LJ Singers. They previously sang on Sam Smith's hit tune "Pray."
• The song was produced by:
  
  London producer Jimmy Napes, who has collaborated with Sam Smith on many of his hits, including "Stay With Me" and "Too Good At Goodbyes." His other credits include Disclosure's "Latch" and Clean Bandit's "Rather Be."
  
  MJ Cole, whose 1998 song "Sincere" was one of the earliest garage records to break into the Top 40 on the UK Singles chart. Two years later, he became the first major artist to write and record a UK garage album. Since then, Cole has produced for artists across the musical spectrum, including Dizzee Rascal's "Bassline Junkie" and remixes for the likes of Delilah ("Shades of Grey") and Example ("One More Day (Stay With Me)"). Game of Thrones actor Raleigh Ritchie's 2014 song "Stronger Than Ever" became a hit single in the UK thanks to an MJ Cole remix.
• "Heavy is the head" is not only a lyric on the chorus, but also the title of Stormzy's second album.
• In August 2018, Stormzy announced he was going to fund two black British students to attend Cambridge University. The rapper told BBC1Xtra's Dotty that it was when he announced the Cambridge scholarship that he realized the crown was heavy. He recalled:
  
  "When I announced that I couldn't quite believe it, maybe I was naive, but I thought that was great thing. I announced it, and my messages that day, I felt like England was shouting at me saying, 'Shut up!' and 'How can it just be for black kids?'"