Skepta, Suggs & Chase & Status – Innocent Smile [Video]

Skepta, Suggs and Chase & Status connect on “Innocent Smile,” the first single from The Fork and Knife, with a video directed by Aidan Zamiri.

“Innocent Smile” turns an idea that sat in development for six years into a collision of distinctly British sounds. Skepta and Madness frontman Suggs started the record long before its release, with the song changing shape until Chase & Status came in and replaced its sampled break. The finished version runs on restless breakbeats, giving Skepta little room to coast while Suggs’ refrain cuts through the pressure with a completely different cadence.

That combination is more deliberate than the billing initially suggests. Skepta has described “Innocent Smile” as carrying a positive message about Britain, specifically pointing to multicultural classrooms and rave culture. Bringing Suggs and Chase & Status into the same record effectively connects different generations of that musical history rather than treating either appearance as a novelty feature.

Director Aidan Zamiri extends the idea into a heightened version of London, pulling in British cultural references from the 2000s while the atmosphere around Skepta grows increasingly tense. “Innocent Smile” serves as the first single from his forthcoming album The Fork and Knife, which will be his first solo full-length since 2019’s Ignorance Is Bliss.