Stormzy Says Growing Up Without A Dad Made Him “Man Up”

Stormzy has admitted he felt the pressure of being the only man in the house growing up.

During an interview with British Vogue, Stormzy opened up about growing up in London with his single mother and two sisters.

“I am the man in my family,” the 30-year-old told the publication. “I’ve got my mum and my sisters, I am provider and protector. It’s just a lot of things that I wish I had.”

Stormzy also addressed the absence of his father, whom he recently got in touch with.

“I have always felt like his absence in my life has had zero effect, that it was a very indifferent thing,” Stormzy remembered. “But the bit that’s irking is where I feel like I need to man up. And not in the toxic way that people tell young boys to ‘man up’, because I feel like, let the youths cry.”

“Let the youths feel, innit,” he continued. “For me, it’s where I need what I think a dad would do. What a good dad would do for his son.”

The rapper, who dropped out of school and pursued an apprenticeship at an oil refinery, explained that he dislikes social media because it isn’t an accurate depiction of his life.

“That’s why I mad hate social media,” Stormzy, real name Michael Owuo Jr., said. “Because it’s made everyone think that I just got there. A young artist will look at me and think, ‘Oh, he’s just got it figured out.’”