''Who Am I'' is the debut studio album by Trinidad-born, London-based musician Berwyn, released on 12 July 2024 through

Columbia Records Columbia Records is an American reco ...

. It received positive reviews from critics, and was nominated for the 2024

Mercury Prize The Mercury Prize, formerly called the Mercury Music Prize, is an annual Music award, music prize awarded for the best album released by a musical act from the Music of the United Kingdom, United Kingdom or Music of Ireland, Ireland. It was cre ...

Release

On 8 April 2024,

Fred Again Frederick John Philip Gibson (born 19 July 1993), known professionally as Fred Again (stylised as Fred again..) or simply Fred (stylised as FRED), is an English record producer, singer, songwriter, multi-instrumentalist and DJ. At the 66th Ann ...

released the track "BerwynGesaffNeighbours" featuring

Gesaffelstein Mike Lévy (; born 24 June 1985), known professionally as Gesaffelstein (), is a French music programmer, DJ, songwriter and producer from Lyon. He has worked alongside artists such as Lady Gaga, The Weeknd, Daft Punk, Kanye West, ASAP Rocky, A$ ...

and Berwyn. Berwyn released an alternate version of the track titled "Neighbors" on 26 April 2024. On 14 May 2024, he released the single "I Am Black." On 11 June 2024, Berwyn announced the album's track list and release date, alongside the third single, "Dear Immigration."

Critical reception

''Who Am I'' was met with critical acclaim upon release, receiving a score of 95 out of 100 on review aggregator

Metacritic Metacritic is an American website that aggregates reviews of films, television shows, music albums, video games, and formerly books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted average). Metacritic was created ...

. Ed Lawson of '' DIY'' described it as a "record that's as skilled in pop immediacy as it is emotional expression; a lyrical gaze that looks as deeply inside as out" and Berwyn "an artist who, on this debut album, can seemingly do just about anything". Ben Devlin of ''

MusicOMH ''MusicOMH'' (stylized as ''musicOMH'') is a London-based online music magazine which publishes independent reviews, features and interviews from across all genres including classical, metal, rock and R&B. History ''MusicOMH'' was founded an ...

'' characterised ''Who Am I'' as "a relatively brief selection of tracks

hat A hat is a Headgear, head covering which is worn for various reasons, including protection against weather conditions, ceremonial reasons such as university graduation, religious reasons, safety, or as a fashion accessory. Hats which incorpor ...

contains a lot of autobiographical heft, as he works through topics of race, insecurity and excess over surprisingly versatile production". ''

The Observer ''The Observer'' is a British newspaper published on Sundays. First published in 1791, it is the world's oldest Sunday newspaper. In 1993 it was acquired by Guardian Media Group Limited, and operated as a sister paper to ''The Guardian'' ...

''s Damien Morris wrote that it "cuts a prickly path between the experimental rawness of Mercury-nominated mixtape ''Demotape/Vega'' and its excellent sequel ''Tape 2/Fomalhaut''s smoother entreaties" as well as remarking that "the ferocity of Berwyn's talent and the piercing beauty of his crackling, folk-R&B croon mean these heavy topics are never a burden". Reviewing the album for '' The Skinny'', Rhys Morgan called it "declarative" as "the candid expression of his previous work remains, now finessed into a towering major label debut".

Track listing

All tracks written and produced by Berwyn Du Bois unless listed.

Release

Critical reception

Track listing

References

External links

Further reading