After a three-year break from solo output, East London emcee Devlin has returned with his fifth studio album, Eyes for the Blind.
Rooted in the emergence of grime and the mainstream surge of UK rap, Devlin’s found a rare consistency across fifteen years. His latest release is Eyes for the Blind, a 14-track album that follows the 2019 album, The Outcast.
Teased all throughout 2021, Eyes for the Blind features appearances from Jme, Asher D, Frisco, Potter Payper, Syer B and more. Creatively, it brings more than grime to the table, finding Devlin on his most expansive production to date.
Singles such as “Next Breed”, “All We Have is Now” and “Popular Fashion” preceded the release. The Potter Payper collaboration “No Place Like Home” was the final track to be teased, a long overdue linkup considering the two are both Barking and Dagenham natives.
Speaking on the album, Devlin commented: “I think this album for me was about escaping everything that’s going on in the world at the minute, all the division, identity politics, COVID, lockdowns. For that reason, I just wanted to be free mentally, be creative and feel positive about something”.
Listen to Devlin’s Eyes for the Blind below.
Mic Cheque 