Stefflon Don: Island 54 review – seamless summer playlist

It may have been a dreary summer in the UK so far, but not on Island 54 : the mythical setting for Birmingham-born rapper/singer Stefflon Don’s long-awaited debut album seems to perpetually exist at a balmy 30 degrees. It is a quintessential summer record that uses dancehall as a base from which to explore all manner of global sounds, from grime to the South African dance style amapiano – an inescapable sound at summer parties for the past few years – to electropop to Punjabi rap.

A stylistic grab-bag? Sure, but Island 54 benefits from crisp, stylish production and the knowledge that all anyone wants to listen to in the dog days of summer is a seamless, varied playlist that you can slap on repeat. Introspective cuts like the darkly toned ballad Dem Evil nestle in easily alongside the doe-eyed, lovestruck amapiano cut Control and sensuous Afrobeats tracks like What’s Poppin and Desire.

The album is long, but Stefflon Don is a flexible MC; she sounds like the third member of D-Block Europe when she adopts a fleet-footed, Auto-Tuned flow on Madam Moiselle, a collaboration with the hyped London duo, and sounds appropriately seething alongside late Punjabi star Sidhu Moose Wala on Dilemma.

As far as debut albums go, Island 54 ’s confidence shines through.