by Stormzy opened up to Louis Theroux for his BBC series Interviews with Louis Therouxmarking his first in-depth interview in two years.
In episode one of the six-part series, Theroux visits the British artist at his home and also attends his sold out concert in Glasgow.
At one point, Theroux asks the 29-year-old the meaning of a lyric from his 2019 single “Crown”.
In the song, Stormzy raps: “If you knew my story you’d be horrified.”
“I’ve been stabbed a few times … for some people it will be horrible,” Stormzy tells Theroux, explaining what he meant.
“Take that trip and it can take you anywhere. It’s a random box of jail, death, becoming an entrepreneur because you learned to be streetwise and now you’ve applied it, becoming a musician, becoming a footballer. But of course, the most likely are injured, dead or in prison. “
Stormzy goes on to explain how he realized the situation wasn’t “normal” after people were so shocked by his story.
Later recalling his apprenticeship for an oil refinery in Leamington Spa, when he moved in with 17 “white boys”, he says: “It helped me to see people and see life and see that there is a culture outside. of my culture, which always is [enlightening] for anyone, from anywhere, who came out of where they came from and saw the world – and for me they were beaten because the world was an hour and a half from the road.
In the documentary, Stormzy tells Theroux how he once took off his helmet to reveal a large scar. When one of the other crew members asked him what he came from, he told them he had been stabbed.
“Bruv, I just remember the look on all their faces, I remember feeling like an artifact in a museum,” he says of their reaction.
“They were all like what ?!” he continues. “It was a kind of realization that ok, yes, it’s not the most normal thing, as normal as it is in our community.” He said.
The rapper explains in the video how he lost “a lot” of friends to stab crime: “It’s one of the things that happens, people die, people get hurt,” he says, before explaining that some friends have lost “their health. mental “to the point of not recognizing it today.
“I’m always wary and careful when I talk about it because it’s easy to discuss things from the fucking suburbs on my couch – and however much I’ve lived through it and come from it, but it’s still people lives and the reality of people,” he adds.
In the 45-minute episode, the rapper also opens up about past relationships, mental health struggles, social media, and more.
Interviews with Louis Theroux: Stormzy will premiere on BBC Two and iPlayer at 9.15pm on Tuesday 25 October.
