number one campaign to get the song to number one, ultimately peaking at number eight in the UK Singles Chart. After a year's hiatus from social media to focus on the recording of the album, Stormzy returned in early February 2017 via a series of advertising hoarding campaigns across London displaying lyrical quotes and the hashtag #GSAP 24.02. The album title was announced to be Gang Signs & Prayer, set to be released on 24 February 2017, followed by the track listing the following day. Promotion Prior to the album's official announcement, the non-album track "Shut Up" was released in September 2015 and ultimately included as the penultimate track on Gang Signs & Prayer. The non-album single "Scary" was released in April 2016 prior to Stormzy's hiatus. On 1 February 2017, an advertising hoarding campaign that foreshadowed the release of the album was launched in numerous areas in London. Singles "Big for Your Boots" was released as the album's lead single on 3 February 2017. The track was produced by Fraser T Smith and Sir Spyro. It entered the UK Singles Chart at number eight, reaching a peak of number six in its fourth week of charting after the release of Gang Signs & Prayer. It thus surpassed "Shut Up" as Stormzy's highest-charting single. "Cold" was released as the album's second single on 12 March, following the album's being certified Gold in the United Kingdom. "Cigarettes & Cush" was released as the album's third single on 29 August 2017. "Blinded by Your Grace, Pt. 2" was released as the album's fourth single on 27 October 2017. Critical reception Upon its release, Gang Signs & Prayer received widespread acclaim from critics. At Metacritic, which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream publications, the album received an average score of 82, based on 19 reviews. Giving it a perfect score, Jordan Bassett of NME stated that Stormzy "delivers a knockout debut that’s brash and pensive in equal measure." Alexis Petridis of The Guardian praised the musical diversity of the album: "More startling, however, is the confidence with which other tracks shift into unexpected musical territory. On paper, a rapper like Stormzy recording a lo-fi, electric piano-led, Stevie Wonderesque gospel track called '"Blinded By Your Grace, Pt 1" sounds like a textbook case of an artist overstretching himself; in reality, it’s fantastic, and oddly moving.", concluding that "It’s not