Rizzle Kicks' Jordan Stephens discusses racial incidents which affected his mental health
Jordan Stephens of rap duo Rizzle Kicks has spoken about the racial incidents from his past which had a negative impact on his mental health.
The star opened up about being labelled a “black boyfriend” and dealing with racism in a recent interview, as he fronts new Channel 4 show The Whole Truth.
The programme sees the performer in discussion with other black British artists about mental health, music and systemic racism to mark World Mental Health Day.
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Talking to Metro.co.uk’s Sarah Deen, the 28-year-old spoke of needing to “purge some anger” when faced with “confusing” comments relating to race.
He said: “I was being called a ‘black boyfriend’ a lot - or was in situations with white girlfriends where it was like ‘You might not be able to see my Gran’ and I’m like ‘Is that because your Gran’s racist?’”
He added: “With Rizzle Kicks we’d get, ‘I don’t normally like rap music, but I like you guys’ which is incredibly confusing. Does that mean you don’t see me as a representative of black culture? Also because I’m mixed race, does that mean black culture sees us as too white?”
Discussing how such comments made him feel, he said: “I didn’t have a breakdown but I was f*****g fuming! I’d watch something or I’d read something and I was suddenly just angry.
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“I was tired of being defined by people who don’t get my lived experience. I also don’t place any value in external perceptions of who I am. I definitely didn’t need that, I needed to purge some anger for sure.”
The Whole Truth, which aired on Channel 4 on Friday (9 October) saw artists Arlo Parks, Che Lingo and Kojey Radical all make live performances and partake in a discussion with Stephens about music and mental health.
It is available to watch on Channel 4’s on demand service now.
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