The north-east London rapper’s new album mines his family’s past and society’s present to explore what it means to call a place home

Over the past two decades, Wretch 32, real name Jermaine Scott, has established himself as a pioneering figure in British rap. From his rise in the underbellies of an early-millennium rap and grime scene, to his mainstream success and songs with the likes of Ed Sheeran and Emeli Sandé, Stormzy and Giggs, he is among the handful of UK rappers who have scaled the heights of the British music scene while maintaining a deep connection to their communities.

At 39, Scott is ready to release his seventh album, Home?, a soul-searching record that reflects on his relationship with that word. “I feel like it always moves. I feel like it always changes,” he says of his relationship to “home”. “I’m still trying to put an exact location on it but as it stands it’s more who I’m with. I feel like I could make a home in any house.”