The Bite Magazine - Spring/Summer 2022 - Issue 31

bitemusicceleb ly left Stefflon for the actress in 2019, leading to their first break-up. Whilst we felt it for our favourite female rapper’s first publi- cised heartbreak, we believe she pulled through with digni- ty. Six years ago, the glamorous and bold Stefflon Don first arrived on the music scene with her debut mixtape Real Ting, a blend of Jamaican patois, East London slang and US hip-hop references. The following year, she was longlisted in the BBC's newcomer poll, Sound of 2017, which led to a major label deal with 54 London, an imprint of Universal Music Group, four months later. Following the success of her breakout single ‘Hurtin’ Me’ with US rapper French Montana which reached #7 in the UK Singles Chart, Stefflon Don won Best Female Artist at the MOBO Awards in 2017 and Best New British Act at the NME Awards in 2018. She has worked with experienced artists, including Sean Paul, Nile Rodgers, Charli XCX, Skepta, Drake and Mariah Carey. In 2018, she became the first British artist to make the legendary US hip-hop maga- zine XXL’s annual Freshman List. Growing up in Rotterdam, the Netherlands, from the age of five, Stephanie Allen, the artist’s real name, lived among the immigrant communities from Suriname, Curaçao and Por- tugal, which broadened her mind and music. She revealed the Netherlands was “like London” in terms of diversity, but she didn’t come across many other Jamaicans until she re- turned to England and lived in Clapton, London, when she was 14. When she mentioned Sean Paul, people in the Neth- erlands realised what Jamaica was. Stefflon’s musical path was perhaps influenced by her family - her mother sang in choirs, her dad dabbled in music, and her brother is drill artist Dutchavelli. “Because the whole family’s musical, all you literally heard in the house was mu- sic - and a lot of different sounding music.”The mix included reggae and dancehall from her father and the latest Destiny’s Child and Missy Elliott albums from her mother. As such, Stefflon’s childhood songwriting centred on heartbreak as she mimicked the R&B music themes she absorbed. “My upbringing made me more open to different genres of music, different sounds and languages because I grew up around so many people from different backgrounds,” she revealed. “When you speak another language, I think you’re automatically a little bit more diverse than someone who just speaks one language.” In her 2020 single ‘Can’t Let You Go’, she used a mixture of patois and Nigerian Yoruba af- ter her Nigerian producer mistakenly thought she had said something in the language and encouraged her to carry on. After her parents split, her dad returned to Jamaica, two of her older brothers remained in the Netherlands, and the rest of the four siblings, including the artist, returned to the UK. Her mother's days of providing for the family ended after Stefflon became successful. She purchased a massive prop- erty in Essex that houses several family members, including her mother, son, brothers and sisters, and nieces, whom she says are around so much that they might as well live there full-time. At age 17, while studying performing arts at college, Steph- anie discovered she was pregnant. With the support of her mother, Stefflon went back to college after the birth of her son, Jaylen, and enrolled in several short courses, grafting as a hairdresser and decorating cakes to cover her expenses and pay for studio time to hone her rapper skills. “I’ve never gone through life thinking I’m not going to make it,” she confessed. She has certainly proved this in more ways than one. Achieving success, the rapper revealed her mindset around her accomplishments. “I hit the Top 10 so easily; I thought that was normal. I felt like that was supposed to happen,” she said. "Imagine getting a job and getting carried around on a golden cart as soon as you get there. I thought that was the standard.” After two years of being signed, Stefflon de- cided to part ways with her label as she had no control over