Stormzy used to wear his sister's clothes when his family were struggling for money.

Stormzy

Stormzy

The 'Vossi Bop' hitmaker grew up in a "very working-class" household with his mum, his two older sisters, and his younger brother, and has now said he used to pinch clothes from his "tomboy" big sister, because his family didn't have the money to buy new clothes.

He said: "I grew up in Norbury, that was my stomping ground, in a house of five of us, my mum, my two big sisters, my little brother and I grew up and we didn't have a lot of money at all. Very working-class background.

"I used to take all my sister's clothes. Lucky for me my big sister was a tomboy. So lucky for me I could go and take her clothes.

"New trainers were never a thing for me. School trips were a myth.

"My mum was working two to three jobs at a time. She was a cleaner, dinner lady, so we didn't have much growing up at all.

"We didn't have anything growing up, to be fair. But what we did have was love."

Since making a name for himself as a grime artist, Stormzy has given back to his community through projects such as funding scholarships for black students at Cambridge University, and pleading £10 million over 10 years to charities fighting racial inequality.

And the 26-year-old star says he's determined to trying and "level the playing field" to make sure everyone has the same opportunities in life.

Speaking at a local youth club, he added: Sometimes the world likes to act like, 'Oh we've all got the same opportunities'. No, that's a lie. Not every one has the same opportunities.

"People coming from where we come from, the estates, the ends, the hoods, wherever, it's tougher for us.

"Me becoming who I've become, I should never neglect the fact that it's more difficult.

"So whatever I can do to level the playing field, I feel like I'm obliged to do it.

"I'm not some Nobel Peace Prize winner. I'm just doing what I should genuinely do.

"That's what I should do, I should be levelling the playing field, coming from where I come from."


Tagged in