The Red Bulletin December 2020 (UK)

Stefflon Don
were lots of words I didn’t know.
It messed up school for me.” Can
you relate to that?
When I came back, I had the weirdest
accent. I was torn between American
English and Jamaican patois. I told people
here that I was from Jamaica. They were
like, “You’re not Jamaican. What kind of
accent is this?” It was very difficult.
How did you gain acceptance?
Thank God I was just born with
confidence. When the kids used to try
me – and they would try me a lot –
I always stood my ground. And I think
anywhere in life, if someone tries you
and you continue to stand your ground,
they just have to respect you. After
a while, they were so confused at how
confident I was, and that’s what made
them like me.
How can others achieve that level
of confidence? Any advice?
Stay away from people who belittle you,
whether it’s friends or family. Just don’t
be around people who make you feel less
confident. Or at least try not to ask them
for advice if you know that they’re not
going to have your corner. You have to
realise that nobody has the answers to
everything. Believe in yourself – that’s
how you gain confidence.
Someone who gave you advice early
on in your career is Drake. He said,
“Make sure that, whatever you do,
your opponent is scared of you.” Is
that something you still live by?
Yes, 100 per cent. In anything you do,
whether you’re a plumber or a carpenter
or a gamer, you should always want to
be the best. Else why do it? Coming up
rapping, I was in so many situations
where there was a beat playing and it
was like, ‘OK, who’s going to rap on it?’
And I was always ready in those
situations. I always made sure that I had
many lyrics ready, so whoever was on
the mic I would destroy them.
Ruthless…
Yeah, I’ve always had that mentality.
I want to make people want to rewrite
their bars. Because sometimes I used to
feel that way. I’d hear certain females
rap and I’d think, “Oh my God, what I’ve
written is not as good. I need to go back
and rewrite my shit.” That’s how I want
“In anything
you do, you
should always
want to be the
best. Else why
do it?”
people to feel when they hear me.
Because that’s how you keep a healthy
conversation, that’s how you push each
other. If people aren’t challenging one
another, if they just follow others, then
we’re stuck. And that’s what has been
happening for a while. No one is really
trying to be the best. I see a lot of
followers. I see a lot of people who think,
“Oh, this works, this charted. Let me do
something similar.”
Why do you think that is?
As an artist, the way you’re criticised
today is different from when I first came
up. Back then, there were no Instagram
trolls. I wasn’t scared to fail by putting
out videos that might not be what I want
them to be – I just had to do it, because
that’s all I could afford. I can’t imagine
how it is for young artists today with
so many eyes on them; so many eyes
of people who don’t know what they
are talking about, projecting their
insecurities on others on social media.
Platforms like Instagram are responsible
for a lack of creativity in the new
generation of artists. And even for
established ones, it’s very hard to really
say what they want to say, or express
how they feel.
Sounds like you’re talking from
personal experience…
I used to record my family on Snapchat
a lot. I would always speak my mind on
certain topics that got me in trouble a
couple of times. [In 2018, she apologised
for tweets from 2013 in which she said
“dark-skinned” girls would change their
skin colour if they could]. I got in trouble
for stuff I didn’t mean in that way, and
things were taken out of context. It made
me feel like, “Do you even deserve to
really know who I am if you going to take
small parts and use them to make it seem
like I am this person that I’m not?”
That is what the internet has become
now. People are looking at your image
and thinking, “What can I pick up [on]
that’s wrong?” And the second thing is,
“Let me see the comments,” to find
what narrative is being pushed. You’re
not supposed to be yourself. You’re not
supposed to be a self-thinker. It’s all
about playing it safe, about following
others. And I really just want to break
away from that.
Is there a way to make the internet
a place of positivity again?
I actually had a couple of meetings with
one of the heads of Instagram, and one
thing I requested was to take the likes
off the comments.
What do you mean?
There was a time when you could
comment on posts, but you wouldn’t
get likes on your comment. Now that
people are more extreme and meaner in
their comments because they want to
stand out in order to get likes, it’s like a
competition. As a result, you look at your
post and realise that 3,000 people liked
a really hateful comment about you. It
feels awful! I don’t think people realise
how detrimental Instagram is for us
and the next generation. Everyone is
tiptoeing around [the issue] and saying,
“Oh yeah, it’s bad.” But people are so
insecure because of this, people don’t
create because of this, people don’t share
new ideas because of this. It’s a very
serious thing and I wish more people
would speak up more about it and
demand change.
With that said, what’s your strategy
for staying sane?
I’m so blessed that I have my family.
I bought a big house and my [11-yearold]
son, most of my six siblings and my
mom live with me. That’s the main reason
why I’m OK. Also, I consider myself lucky
that I didn’t come up in the social media
age. I have a sense of reality. I know what
it means to be original. I know what it
means to not really give a fuck about
what no one says. And no one can take
that away from me.
Stefflon Don’s new mixtape Island 54 is
out now; stefflondonofficial.com
THE RED BULLETIN 61