Stormzy has used his new album to apologise to ex-girlfriend Maya Jama for the “disrespect” he showed her.
In the track Lessons on Heavy Is The Head, which was released on Friday, the grime star sings about his regrets over the end of their relationship.
The lyrics say: “Fast forward now, my nephew’s still asking for his Auntie Maya / Guess this is the karma for what I done to Maya / I just stood and let it burn, I couldn’t done the fire, Lord, I pray you make it easy, that’s my one desire.”
He goes on to sing: “I can’t even look you in the eye, that’s ’cause of shame / Now you’re tryna block me out your mind, that’s ’cause of pain / Greatest love I ever knew, I poured it down the drain / Maybe it’s the only way we both call it a day
“You gave me the world and then I gave you disrespect / Hand on my heart, this is my biggest of regrets.”
In an interview with BBC Radio 1 Xtra, Stormzy said he needed to publicly acknowledge his role in their break-up, although he did not go into specifics.
“For me, it was just being honest in my truth; the strange thing about it is it’s not my truth alone,” he said. “It’s me throwing Maya out there as well, that is something we shared and it’s on a public forum.
“Everything happened so public, it was a hot topic, and I’m going on record now and I’m apologising, I’m trying to lay it all bare and be very truthful and be very clear in my truth as well.
“I’m not trying to shy away from it, it was a public disrespect, you can’t really privately address that.
“It was a public disrespect that needed a public apology,” he added.
Stormzy – real name Michael Ebenazer Kwadjo Omari Owuo Jr – and Maya announced their split back in August after four years together.
At the time, it was claimed the pair had broken up in order to focus on their careers, but reports later suggested he had been unfaithful to the Radio 1 DJ.