Stamina MC shares some of his experiences as one of the more recognizable faces in the UK music scene.
For a large part of the time that I’ve even been aware of such things, I realized a lot has been made of both fame and success as concepts, and what they mean for those people whose lives they affect. For me personally, having a life of music really gave me a sense of what either of those things could plausibly mean. I definitely don’t deem myself as âfamousâ, to be clear. And in the grand scheme of things not notably âsuccessfulâ either, at least not compared to what’s attainable! Successful enough as to look after myself of course, which was the only real âgoalâ anyway; lofty ambitions such as, I dunno, paying off my Dadâs mortgage or whatever really wasnât realistic for someone like me! With that said, the conversation does/has come up quite a bit between me and friends, or maybe even just random people, asking me to explain how either or both of those affect me personally, what my views are and such. Iâm intensely grateful that my level of notoriety is not such that upon leaving my house I’m likely to be mobbed by paparazzi, or perhaps accosted for autographs or photos while on a shop run or something equally mundane. The fact that in my specific situation there’s a distinct difference between my personal and professional endeavors makes me greatly happy.
Perhaps the question most asked of me is some variant of âyouâve been on TV/had a music video on MTV etc, donât people recognize you on the street because of it?â Theyâre all so incredulous when I tell them âno, not even once!â I guess opportunities rarely arise as to even ask someone (who could give a useful answer) something like that, so to be met with that response is inconceivable to them. However there a couple of âalmost, but not quiteâ scenarios that I might share with them if time/situation permits, just âcos if they were unexpected for me theyâll likely be so for others tooâŚ
The first one I always say doesnât really count, and youâll maybe get why â it was all the way back in 2002, the same year my first and the arguably biggest track was on heavy rotation both in clubs and on mainstream radio. I happened to be attending a club night at iconic West London venue The End but attending merely as a âpunterâ like everyone else. I get to the front of the queue and am maybe a couple of people away from getting a quick search from the door staff so as to be on my way, and a minicab driver, one of a few stood around outside (for what reason I donât know, as it would only have been midnight or something at that time, so people were on the way IN rather than OUT) says to me something to the tune of âI recognize you, you look familiar.â My tried and true response to that has always been (and will likely always be) âyeah, I get that a lot. I must have one of those faces.â He wasnât having it though, insisting that it was an actual thing. I did my obligatory shoulder shrug and hoped that nobody else in the queue was gonna blow up my spot (they didnât). So while the door staff took their sweet time with the guys ahead of me he mulls it over, eventually coming to the realization that heâs seen me in a music video. MY music video. He couldnât recite any words, but the way he explained what he remembered was very much correct. So I concede; the game is up. I get my pat-down shortly afterward and in I go. But I say that that one doesnât count because even though I canât know whether or not he was an actual fan of the track or the genre, me being in that environment, the very place where âthe artist version of meâ thrives, meant that I would be THAT person to pretty much everyone there; Iâd be able to count the number of people that knew my full name on my fingers.
The second one was ULTRA random and was just last year. Iâd finished my radio show on Rinse FM and was headed home on public transport; at that time of night, itâs two buses to get me home. So Iâve rung the bell to alight the bus and descended the stairs from the upper deck. Iâm on the phone with someone overseas, talking music talk of some nature to whoever was on the line. The phone goes down, and the driver taps on the perspex and beckons me to him. I go over. He asks me âare you Stamina?â In this specific context, thereâs really no charade I can play, no way to have any fun with it, so a simple âyes?â is my reply. He tells me he RECOGNISES MY VOICE because get this, he used to listen to Rinse back in their pirate era since he lived in the area of East London a lot of those guys were from, and he ran off a few names of people he knew. That one blew my whole mind, I canât lie. Not even my face, but my speaking voice, distinctive enough basically two decades after the era he was referring to. Madness. He asked me to pass on his number to the stationâs owner who heâd not seen in years, I said I would, and that was that. Suffice to say my brain was awash with thoughts for the remainder of my journey.
Those were the only two though, in almost twenty years. And thatâs how I like it. Even though it would never be something I could ever assert control over, Iâd always give thought to the kind of projects Iâd like to involve myself in insofar as what level of success a track achieved would do for my relative level of fame â it struck me as unarguable that after a(n undetermined) point being more successful also meant being more famous, and I really wasnât willing to âgive upâ the simplicity of the life I currently led for monetary gain, critical acclaim and all the other stuff. So it did tickle me just a little bit to end up having my first big tune in quite some time be a duet of sorts with one of Britainâs most famous faces⌠but more on that another time.