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Supar beginnings
RAPPER Matthew Stanton, aka Suparnovar – Tufnell Park native and one-time Acland Burghley schoolboy – launched his debut album From the Beginning on Monday. In October he opened for American supergroup Wu-Tang Clan’s Ghostface Killah, and has been played on MTV Base and Channel U, Kiss FM, Choice FM, and BBC 1Xtra. He now lives in Islington with his eight-month-old daughter. Charlotte Chambers spoke to him last week.
CC: Do you think it’s bad that children only seem to want to be footballers or rappers?
S: It’s the things they grow up with and are into. It’s alright for them to have these aspirations but we need programmes – in music and football – for them to get involved with on a regular basis. Things they can go to.
Being a name is something they’re always going to want to be and its better to do it through music than things like drugs.
CC: Is hip hop music a bad influence on kids?
: It is and it isn’t. Some of it is negative but they’re just reflecting what they’ve grown up with and it’s hard to tell them not to speak about it. But if you are then there should be a positive message at the end.
CC: Knife crime is a problem where you grew up.
S: I can only really observe it – the only thing I can suggest is giving the kids something to do. The younger generation are always trying to prove themselves to older kids. One might fight with fists, then its baseball bats and then knives.
CC: Do you think people carrying knives should be given mandatory prison sentences?
S: I don’t know if that’s the answer. Jail can be the worst place for them. A mandatory sentence might not stop them – for some kids it’s a badge of honour to go to jail. It could put some kids in danger because they don’t carry a knife but the other kid does. It’s a very difficult situation.
CC: Would you bring up your kids here?
S: I’d rather not. I’ve just had a daughter – she’s eight-months-old. From growing up here myself and seeing what kids get into, they’re always trying to outshine each other. By the time she’s 16, God knows what kids will be into. I’ve just got to give her the right guidance.
CC: Tell me about Ghostface Killah.
S: It was in Brighton. A school friend came up to me after the show and said: “I remember you walking around school in your fake Wu-Tang tracksuit you’d bought in Camden market.”
It was quite inspiring when he told me that.
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