Table Manners with Jessie and Lennie Ware - S4 Ep 4: Stefflon Don
Episode Date: October 31, 2018According to mum, this week’s guest has more of a potty mouth than me. Stefflon Don joins us for this week’s Table Manners, proving she really is quite the don. We talk music industry, poetry, eat...ing jerk, speaking Dutch and munching on ice (!) Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
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Mum, we have a pretty impressive rapper today. Have we? Yes. What's her name? Her name rhymes
with Teflon, which I want to understand if she is a big foodie and she likes that brand.
She's called Steflon Don.
Just tell me, do you think her first name's Stephanie?
I know her name is Stephanie.
That's quite clever then, Steflon.
But why does she call herself Don?
Because she's the Don.
Yeah, but that's kind of masculine.
Because, mum, you don't mess with Steph London
I've seen the picture of her
She is beautiful
She is gorgeous
And she raps really good
See I know nothing about rapping
Everyone
Do you think she might do a little rap for us?
I mean maybe
I'm really excited about her
I think she's really impressive
I think her and me was such a good song
Hello Dada.
Oh, there she is. Are you excited about Steph London Bunny?
Yeah.
She is from, she was born
in Birmingham. Oh, they're all bunnies, the rappers.
I know.
Honestly. At the moment. She was born in
Birmingham, lived in Holland.
Any bodyguards? I don't know if she's got bodyguards yet.
Don't know.
We'll find this all out.
And there was the eight outside.
She's a rapper.
She's a mother.
She's a record label.
She's a mother.
Yeah, she's a record label exec.
Yeah.
She's rapped with Drake and Jeremiah and Wretch.
And she...
When you say she raps with...
She raps.
What do you mean?
They have one verse each
but i mean it depends like in the carol concert she could do a little 16 but like in the carol
you know where you give a verse to each person what like in a school play like everyone gets
even yeah i don't know when you say she raps with drake how do they how do you rap with someone
exactly you take it in turns yeah i guess So it is a bit like the Carol concert.
Yeah, exactly.
Let's give that analogy to her and see what she brings.
Okay, we'll see.
She set up her own label and then got signed.
So she kind of signed herself and it was a seven figure deal,
which is kind of unheard of now in the industry.
Definitely was unheard of when I was getting signed.
So I'm just really impressed
by her she's an entrepreneur she is killing it and a mobo winner and what because I've never seen
her what's her kind of attire is it like Nicki Minaj and uh Cardi B it's like really impressive
hair she's absolutely beautiful and so body confident and I think that's really inspiring so we got a
bit of a list of what she does eat and what she doesn't eat and very interestingly she likes to
bite ice a lot which doesn't really work for a podcast but we'll see how that goes I did
I've got a bit of ice in the freezer um I've done, it said that she loved to jerk and fish.
So I've done something that I've never done before
because that's how I like to do it, just to make it difficult.
Kind of concocted like jerk fish tacos.
And I've done it with a kind of avocado lime cream,
which actually is just like a really smooth guacamole.
I've done it with a pineapple salsa
wow i may just try and get a green herb salsa going too if i've got time probably don't have
time and i've done it with coconut rice with a bit of lime zest and oh and then i've done it with um
just for the crunch i've just done a really basic kind of vinegary red cabbage and lots of different
colored carrots actually haven't it's been really
really easy it may taste like shit though um but shout out to missy flynn who did an emergency
taco drop because nowhere in hackney has tacos to sell you like the ones the small corn ones that
my sister says that you can get in like every corner store in LA couldn't find them anywhere so she kindly
sent me a load in an uber with very very hot chilies um and just want to actually give a
shout out to Missy and Gabriel who um are responsible for Rita's which was an amazing
restaurant on Mare Street that did the best uh mac and cheese with green chili and they are launching relaunching
in bethnal green um in october so please go and eat their food because they are missy does some
of the best tequila cocktails in london and gabriel is an amazing amazing chef and they just do really
exciting fun food so thank you so much missy for delivering tacos to me when the bloody corner
restaurant that is a mexican wouldn't give them to me and i bloody corner restaurant that is a Mexican
wouldn't give them to me
and I was going to buy it.
You wouldn't give me your tacos?
You wouldn't give me my tacos.
How tacky.
Steph London in Dalston.
Thank you so much for being here.
Thanks for having me.
Pleasure.
Thank you.
It's been a bit of a busy
week for you because you've got secure the mix tape out can you just explain to me why isn't
that just an album is there because you've got like you've got even better songs to go on yeah
exactly i've got more stuff that mix tape has got like 12 or something songs yeah it's got like 15
songs yeah but like that's in my opinion that's two albums like i'd be like yeah
i've just uh i've just fulfilled my album um deal and that's uh that's two albums for you yeah how
does it work like i kind of just i feel like a mixtape is a little bit more fun and not as
serious less pressure yeah i feel like it's less pressure and it's kind of still more uh getting
it's almost like still getting yourself out there,
still making people aware of who you are and still like breaking ground levels, I feel.
And I feel like with an album, it's almost like when you're, to me,
I wouldn't want to do an album unless I'm a certain height of my career,
a little bit more, where I feel like more people gravitate towards it. Are you kidding me? Mum, you've got like 700 something thousand followers.
I think people do know you and love you no people do know me but you like i did a little bit of like research on you but like you were brought up in no you you were born in um
birmingham yeah well we have missed on the podcast before and mum now thinks every rapper's coming
from birmingham um oh yeah i'd missed on the yeah was lovely. Mum really fancied him. It was perfect.
So beautiful. He's such a good looking boy. Yeah, he's cute. He is cute. He's really sweet as well. Very polite and lovely.
Are you single? Yeah. Oh no, he's got a lady, hasn't he? I don't know if that one's... He's alright, he's not my type though.
He's handsome though. Yeah, he he's handsome He's got a beautiful face
Which part of Birmingham
Are you from?
My mum came from Birmingham
Oh I was born in Handsworth
Oh really?
Yeah
That's where we used to go
To the disco
At Aston University
At Handsworth
Yeah
But my mum came from Smallbrook
You went to Holland
Yeah
So I left Birmingham
When I was about four
Do you speak Dutch?
Yeah I'm fluent in Dutch Have you ever decided To rap in dutch yeah i put that in some of my
lyrics but it doesn't sound as good as people don't know no not as good but yeah it's all right
like artists are the music sounds they've got really big um rap scene as well haven't they
did you like it well i was four okay but yeah how long were you there for I was there for 10 years but did I
like it yeah but you were like a teenager I think it's um I think it's a good experience for kids
especially learning yeah the schools they are really good very good way better than here the
schools that I went to yeah were kids like smoking it like teenage years there because it was just so
like even though it was legal no and then you came back and you were in Clapton.
Yeah.
Like, so kind of you're an East London girl.
Well, I came back to Stoke Newton first.
Oh, okay.
Yeah, so I stayed with my mum's friend.
Did you go to Stokey School?
No, I went to a school named Green.
Okay.
So we moved to my mum's friend's house for a little bit.
And her kids were going to a school named Green.
So we ended up going there.
Right.
And then afterwards, after...
But I was always around the east area so
my mom was always looking for houses like we was always in and out of it would have been maybe like
a bed and breakfast sometimes or whatever oh right yeah it was like that and then um yeah we resigned
in clapton four houses later is your mom still there oh no i live with my mom well she lives
with you yeah everyone lives with me so my brothers and sisters and how many brothers and sisters do you have um well in the house there's i think four
of them so what it you know i i don't know how much you know about this podcast because
no not much okay that's fine i'll i'll let you know it's basically i like to turn up sometimes
and just that's fine and and i wanted so we cook you dinner and yeah you know we talk about food because that's all i want to talk about and like as much as and as much as i want to, so we cook you dinner and, you know, we talk about food because that's all I want to talk about.
And as much as I want to talk about, I want to talk about all your music stuff, but I really like to talk about food and what everyone likes to eat.
And growing up, I guess you've grown up in like three different places.
Like, I feel like you must have such a range of kind of food experiences.
Yeah. But like, what's your kind of family meal? Like like what's that kind of go-to family meal for you well it used to be
chicken and rice but I'm a pescetarian now how long's that been for four or five months
how I was before that I was before that for like a year okay yeah it's all right
why did you decide to give up meat because it's really bad for you did you watch your
netflix documentary i watched everything i already knew that it wasn't good so i knew that i didn't
want to eat meat no more so i literally went and watched everything and i follow all these instagram
stuff that talks about it so i could just not eat it anymore do you know i mean my son he doesn't
eat meat no more either but he was all right he was not really a meat eater anyway but he was just
like yeah i want to get older with you mom i was like yeah well meat is a bit bad for you so maybe
maybe i should stop eating me he's like yeah okay you stop eating me i'll stop eating me
so we could get old together that's so romantic how old is he he just turned nine oh he sounds
sweet yeah he's so sweet so yeah he doesn't need me and he's so happy he goes around telling
everyone i'm a pescatarian oh you need to be a pescatarian too oh he's trying to like change the world and like
when my friends come to my house and they're eating meat because obviously everyone else still
eats meat yeah i'm so little here and there and then my son will be like to them um you have to
be pescatarian and my friends like i don't live in this house i don't have to do anything
that's so sweet so okay
well like
what was your favourite
family dish then
it was chicken and
yeah obviously chicken
rice and beans
do you miss it
I'm a cheat though
because
if my mum cooks chicken
I'll eat the gravy
oh I don't think
that's cheating
yeah I think that's okay
I eat
okay I eat the gravy
so I'll have the gravy
so I'll have the flavours
of what I'm supposed to eat
what's so good about the gravy
did you just put something in it?
The gravy's great.
Oh yeah.
If you do a good gravy.
Yeah when they cook gravy.
It just tastes like chicken.
Do you eat ackee and saltfish though?
Yeah.
We like that.
Do you remember when we went to Jamaica?
We had a lot of that.
We had ackee.
It's a bit like scrambled egg.
It's really easy to make actually.
Oh is it?
Yeah I could teach you how to make it.
Well here they have it in the tin so you live in those.
Yeah so I can sort of just go right there.
It's pretty expensive I think a tin is like
Nine or five pound
You just get a tin
Put it in
Water
Well
Unwrap the
The label
Labeling off of it
Just put it in a bowl of
Not in a pot with water
Let the water go a little bit
Over the tin
Uh huh
Let them just heat it up
Let it sit in there for about
So let it still sit in the tin
Let it sit in the tin Because it cooks in the tin oh wow yeah in the tin so you you let it boil for maybe i think
half an hour or something then you have another pot with a little bit of oil yeah and then you do
your veg so you do like um onions tomatoes you could chop them up and some green greens yeah
some greens do you just use spinach
or like will you be like will you use other greens like oh no i don't i don't think we put
like what do you do then what like just like green peppers um what else can you put in there
um what other green um what's that thing called in jamaica we say scallion so i don't know oh okay
green green like spring onion spring onion yes that's what it is see jamaican people call it
something else
and i never knew what it was but yeah then you chop that up put that in there and then you mix
it up throw a little garlic yeah put garlic in there and any seasoning yeah some seasoning so
you could put black pepper uh you could put some all-purpose seasoning which you could also get
mate i hope you don't mind this yeah like basically for the the meal that we've done
tonight like i heard you like jerk
Obviously I don't know
How to cook jerk
But I know how to buy
The jerk seasoning
Yeah
And no
I kind of added
A little bit more
Like ginger and onion
And thyme
Okay yeah
But I have like
Done a bit of a cheat
You're having jerk seasoning
Fish
But with a little extra
Okay
And we're doing tacos
So it's like jerk fish tacos
Okay
With bits and bobs
And some coconut rice
This is the first time
You've cooked jerk fish Well and I don't think I've even done it properly like i mean it's just i promise you it tastes
great it tastes fine how do you do your saltfish that's more difficult saltfish so you have to soak
it yeah you gotta soak it in water so some people leave it in in water for i don't know how long
maybe like a couple hours no you could also just do it the same day so if you don't know how long maybe like a couple hours a day no or you could also just do it
the same day
so if you don't want to do
that overnight thing
I think sometimes people
do leave it in overnight
you just put the salt water
in a pan of water
and you
you cook it
so you turn it on
I think on low heat
or medium heat
and then you leave it in there
for about an hour or two
do you like
and then you mix it all up
no I used to
when I wasn't this busy
mate
I know
and now it's a lot of takeaways right yeah but I used to always cook my mum this busy. Mate, I know. And now it's a lot of takeaways, right?
Yeah, yeah.
But I used to always cook.
My mum cooks a lot.
Do you like Callaloo?
I love Callaloo.
Me too.
I love Callaloo.
You can get it fresh around, in Brixton you can.
Yeah.
So in Holland, did like you have lots of stroopwafel?
Oh, stroopwafel, yeah.
I'm really like like I'm really impressed
That you can speak
Like
In winter they have
It's called
Oliebolle
What's that
So nice
What is it
So they have these
Stands outside
Fresh oliebolle
Which is like
It's almost like a dumpling
You know like a fried dumpling
A little bit
But very soft
Sweet
Yeah
Okay
And then with
What's that sugar powder called?
Icing sugar.
Icing sugar, yeah.
Nice.
We just call it sugar powder in Holland.
But yeah, icing sugar over it.
Yeah.
And then sometimes it has raisins in there, but it's so nice.
It's so soft.
And it's a wintery thing.
It's a winter thing.
So it's only around in the winter.
Like in the markets?
Or would it be one of those stores?
The stores will be everywhere.
Okay.
So it would be a store that would just be in the middle of somewhere where the shopping
centres are. And does that take you back to kind of winter
yeah every time i think of winter i think of that and then they have another thing called paper
noter which is a small little biscuits come in like a packet it's like really small like brown
and um they're like gin i think slightly ginger but then with a hint of something totally different
i can't even explain what it tastes like, but they have that in winter as well.
Gorgeous.
And so,
I mean,
we ask everybody like what would be your like last supper or some people,
mum doesn't like it being called that.
So like your desert Island meal,
like you were going to eat your final meal.
It would be your dream meal.
Would that be your pudding?
No.
Well,
if I wasn't a pescatarian.
Okay.
You're either about to die or you're about to be stuck on an island.
Oh, I'm about to be stuck on an island.
I would say...
I'll go straight into the main because Jamaican people don't really eat stars.
I know.
We just eat some main dishes.
You have quite just a lot of main dishes.
Yeah, just like...
Yeah, they'll have like...
Go mad.
Okay, this is my favourite.
Oxtail rice and peas. Do you know what this is my favourite. Oxtail, rice and peas.
Do you know what Oxtail is?
Oxtail.
Of course I do.
I'm from South London.
Yes, I do.
Thank you very much.
Carry on.
Not everyone eats that, yeah.
Yeah.
Oxtail, rice and peas
with a bit of salad on the side.
Meaty.
Oxtail's got a great taste.
I love Oxtail.
Do you have macaroni?
It's so strong.
It's so strong.
It is.
Oxtail's got a strong beef.
It's meaty. It's hefty. Yeah. Yeah, it's so nice. Okay so strong It is Oxtail's got a strong It's meaty
It's hefty
Yeah
Yeah it's so nice
Okay
Oh and dessert
Yeah
My favourite dessert
Is
Caramelised banana
And vanilla ice cream
The contrast
Well that is
Not what you're getting tonight
You're getting a pavlova
I'm afraid
I would have made you that
I could give you
One of my child's mini milks if you
really want some ice cream it's all right um we could eat a little bit if you want with dessert
i love the contrast of hot and cold so ice cream with something i wish i'd known this we could
have bloody done something what's it what a floating island no the thing that sam likes
the coffee on the ice cream oh affogato yeah i that is. So it's ice cream and you just put an espresso shot.
Do you drink coffee?
Not really.
Okay.
Well, that's a good job we didn't do that one then.
Forget it.
But I'm quite hungry because...
I'm starving.
Well, I'm always hungry.
So actually, I'm just going to put the fish in the...
Yeah.
Just to warm it up a bit.
Can we just
because you've started chomping
you like
you like eating ice
yeah
what is this
where did it come from
why do you do it
would you like some more
it's not great
for a podcast
it's not great for a podcast
I'm not going to lie
but please go on
your ice tastes good
sound effects
isn't there a particular ice
that tastes like shit
yeah ice tastes different
all the time
yeah
no really ice is like all the time yeah no really
ice is like
dulcet and water
I tell you
hard dulcet and water
why do you eat it
where did you find out
that you loved eating ice
I started eating ice
when I was about
16
okay
my mum used to do it
and then I followed
I just saw her doing it
so then I thought
let me eat some ice as well
and then
just got addicted to it
that is like that's a cheap date babe that's sorted but what I found
out is when you crave ice it means you're anemic oh really and are you are you yeah because when
I take my iron tablets I don't really want to eat ice anymore god get us some spinach quick
I love my eyes need some red meat Yeah Well no meat
No no
She'll have to have
Iron and green vegetables
Darling
Yeah of course
Green vegetables
So I can get you
Some more ice
If you need some more
Yeah I want some more
She does darling
That ice is great
I think she wants some more
You're the first like
Ice connoisseur we've had
Is it
The ice queen
The ice queen
Darling go and get her
Some more ice
I'm really worried
We're going to run out
So what's your name Stephanie Yeah The ice queen. The ice queen. Darling, go and get her some more ice cream. I'm really worried we're going to run out.
So what's your name?
Stephanie.
Yeah.
That's gorgeous.
Why the name?
And do you use a lot of Teflon cooking equipment?
How do you get them from them?
So they give them to you for free now? No.
I feel like we should do a call to action.
Teflon.
You should be giving Teflon some bloody pans. Exactly. They should give me some. action. Teflon. You should be giving Steflon some bloody pans.
Exactly.
They should give me some.
I like Teflon pans.
Yeah, they're very good.
Yeah.
So why Steflon Don?
I feel like such a dick saying it because it's Steflon Don.
Yeah.
But it's very clever.
Yeah, I know.
But mum wants to know about the Don.
Yeah, because that's quite masculine.
Yeah, it is.
Steph London is a little bit.
But because I was a rapper first.
But mum, you haven't heard her rap.
She's phenomenal.
So because I'm a rapper first,
I feel like if I was a singer,
I would probably name myself Steph London.
Sounds more like a singer-y.
And if you're a rapper, you're like Steph London.
How long did it take to come up with the name?
I actually didn't come up with it.
So someone else gave it to me.
So at the time I had, well well my cousin's friend who was around and he was just
he wasn't managing me but he was just like helping me up with people yeah yeah do you know i mean
and then he's like yeah but he's come up with a name before of all these rubbish names i don't
know how come and give me some of the rubbish ones i remember thinking sugarcane hurricane like no
but as soon as i said them to myself i'm like no i don't mind sugarcane i feel like sugarcane hurricane like no but as soon as i said them to myself i'm like hell no i don't mind
sugarcane i feel like sugarcane was all right that was cute but hurricane could be could work
with the x-men um okay so steph like it's good so then he come up with a name and obviously he's
jamaican as well so he was like i got a name for you so i was so excited i'm like oh my gosh
what is it what is it i was so excited over the phone i'm like finally i'm gonna have a name he's like um steph london and i literally went silent
i was like what what does that even mean you did it then all right and then he was just like no
because this is your name stephanie you're from london it's good it's just good yeah and then i
was like no so I was like,
no.
So I was like,
I'll think about it,
whatever.
I didn't like it at all.
So I told my friends,
I was like,
listen,
this guy's trying to call me Steph London
because you believe it.
They're all laughing.
They're like,
man,
what kind of name is that?
Then,
they just started calling me it.
But also,
I didn't really like it as much
because I just started rapping.
So I was about 18.
I just started rapping.
I always used to do it for a joke
and I never really took it serious
so I wasn't really that good.
So I felt like that name is very,
you know,
done.
It's like very...
So when,
do you feel like the name
helped you get better?
Yes.
I had to live up to my name.
Almost like an alter ego.
I had to live up to my name.
I was like,
there's no way I could have this name
and be pants.
So is it like,
are there like times
when you're really like Steph London
and then there's times
when you're Stephanie?
Yeah. Like what are we're really like Steph London and then there's times when you're Stephanie? Yeah.
Like what are we getting tonight?
Steph London.
Okay.
I'm going to go on and then go to go on.
Well, maybe when you've had my meal, maybe we can get to sleep.
I've got to ask because I don't know a lot about rapping.
But do you consider yourself like a poet of today like you're more like a poet so you
are talking about current affairs and your life through yeah through your rap i mean they will
say rap is a bit poetry but it is poetry because it rhymes yeah it rhymes won the pulitzer prize
i know it's poetry yeah wow, his rap is a bit more...
Is it more poetry?
Is yours?
No, his one is a bit more...
Hers has got a lot of attitude.
So is yours about politics or about women?
It's about...
It's definitely about women.
Definitely about women.
Opening one is called Little Bitch.
Yeah.
Is it sexual?
Yeah, a bit.
But that's like the Jermaine.
No, but is it sexual?
Sorry, do I sound like me?
Steph, just fucking rap something to her.
Like, do one of your lines.
You've got to just do one of your raps for me.
Why don't you listen to one?
I need to listen to one.
It's obviously been quite publicised how much he got signed for and there was this seven figure
and i'm really interested because like i felt like deals like that weren't happening anymore
in there wasn't until i came along no and then i can you like what yeah that's steph london
she's confident no but like I think that's amazing
And I think that it's a real kind of almost like
And forgive me and tell me if you're like no no no
But I feel like it's a very kind of American attitude
Where you're like bang this is what I want
This is what I'm going to get
Whereas like all of us guys are like apologetic
Like oh no
Yeah please sign me
Yeah sure I'll take five quid
Well Jessie take note
Because she's not aggressive
I'm totally alright mum I bought a hat
She's just confident
She knows what she can do
I would like to know because I feel like
I don't know whether you were before the gigs deal
But like something happened
And the urban world
Like commands and it's amazing
And like it's inspiring and also
slightly depressing for acts like me where i'm like literally there going oh god oh shit look
i'm pregnant and that's just like ripped anyway um so um are you pregnant i am pregnant oh that's
so cute that's cool i mean it doesn't really work when you're in music you might have two kids now
yeah and like no career, no I'm joking.
When's your next
baby? Oh no, I'm not having one till I'm maybe
30. Oh shit,
that's so depressing. She
sees that as a long way off. I'm not having
one till I'm nearly 30. It is a long way off, she's 26
aren't you? Yeah, 26.
But I just kind of want to ask
what, like, how
because I think that's really inspiring.
As a businesswoman, you're, it's commanding something.
Good for her.
You were a new artist and there was a buzz.
And, like, you generated that buzz, obviously, and you struck at the right time.
And I think that, like, so many people are so quick to go into deals, aren't they?
Because they're just like, cool.
And I just kind of want to understand, was it like this masterminding or was it just kind of also
was it kind of serendipitous was it just kind of like the kind of music gods and we're on your
side a little bit too I don't know I really want to understand no it was um okay so I've always
said growing up I want to get signed for a million pounds so I've always said that actually you say
what I've always said I wanted to get signed for a million pounds so i've always said that actually you say what i've always said i wanted to get signed for a million pounds so i've always said that like when i was
maybe 15 i've just always said that i was nobody i didn't have nothing i didn't know who i was
but i think i just used to always um here american rappers always say like a million a million like
you know with little wing with his emily emily i was like you know i should get signed for a
million that would be sick so i always had that in my head that i always want to get signed for a million so when the deals came i was always
like no i don't want to get signed i don't know i don't want that the deals at the beginning were
not for a million then no i had deals on the table for a year and a bit so a year and a bit
people were bidding she thought yeah all right mom hang on jesus no no yeah well no my mom was
different she's like we need like, we need to sign,
we need to sign,
we need to tell money now,
we need to tell money,
Stephanie.
She's got a lot of people
to look after as well.
The power of saying no
is amazing,
isn't it?
Yeah, I think that's true.
I was never eager
or hungry for a deal.
No.
I was more...
So how did you keep yourself going
and support yourself?
Just how I always was.
I used to do hairdressing.
And cake decorating, which we need to talk about.
Well, I did cake decorating for a little bit.
Kind of more did it as a hobby.
And then some people would ask,
like, can you make me a cake?
And then I would obviously charge.
But it was started off as a hobby,
just watching Food Network channels.
And I'd be like, oh, I wanna learn this.
Cause I'm very creative.
So if I see something, I'd be like, oh, I wanna learn this. A mechanic fixing a car, oh, want to learn this because i'm very creative so if i see something i'll be like oh i want to learn this a mechanic fixing a car oh i want to learn this good for you
yeah because i ask like a billion questions so i always oh shit sorry i don't think about your
hair on the tape it's fine oh my god jessica sorry okay carry on yeah so um back to the deal
basically yeah i had a couple of deals on the table.
I had like previous managers who were more like trial managers.
So they wasn't really my manager at the time.
They just really wanted to manage me.
I wasn't looking for a manager.
It was just like, yeah, we like what you're doing.
Can we manage you?
And he was like, no.
So how did they know about you?
Did you do a demo or something?
No, I just had stuff on YouTube.
So I had little videos.
Okay, stuff on YouTube. Yeah, just like I would always remix people's songs, do a demo it would be no i just had stuff on youtube so i've had little videos okay stuff on youtube yeah just like i would always remix people's songs do a video to it and um
it's smelling good darling i don't know if it's gonna be in here but i think it's gonna be great
yeah and um they was the one taking me to labels because they were they already had previous
artists who's done well like years ago so they know a lot of people in the labels so they would always take me there for meetings and that's when i got introduced to label talk and
blah blah blah and anyway so so which label are you on now so she's got her own label
she doesn't talk about mine yeah 54 london it's called 54 lond Wow So yeah They were taking me to labels
Anyway
I was just on trial period with them
Wasn't really satisfied
With what they was doing
So left them
And
Started to just
Forget about labels for now
Focus on what I'm doing
Because I always knew
That I wanted to get signed for a million
And their
First
Their first offer was pretty high though
I think it was at
Two something or three something
So it was already high
Jesus
So you got signed for a million
Yeah
And some money
Good for you
Yeah
But yeah
So then
My deal went universal
So that means that
There were so many labels bidding for me
For so long
They didn't get why i wasn't signing they
were so confused they were like how is this girl still not signing and they're just they're just
literally scared that you're gonna go off to someone else so it keeps on upping the yeah good
so they keep upping it and they keep doing more what you want and like if a lot of things are
changing the contract they were just like yeah okay cool fine all the percentages that i was
dropping they was like yeah cool fine and do you feel you can do whatever you like, yeah, okay, cool, fine. All the percentages that I was dropping, they were like, yeah, cool, fine. And do you feel you can do whatever you like?
Yeah.
No one tries to boss you around or anything?
No, never.
My label's pretty,
they literally let me do whatever I want.
But you know, when Jessie talked about you,
I realised you were quite a powerful woman
because you've got what you want,
you've got your deal that you wanted,
all of this.
And she said you can't mess with her.
But you're
so sweet and very feminine and very lovely so you're not an aggressive person you just know
what you want and you just keep calm and keep going till you get it exactly and you have to
remember if a label wants you they want you because they see so much potential yeah so if
you know that then you know that you're worth maybe 10 times more than the hospital it's true um i did not know i wish i
knew stephanie yeah she needs to be seven years ago she could take mary portis on i'm telling you
no but no but what i want to but actually help yourself by the way but just like it's and also
if you're not hungry no worries but it's like a taco thing what is this um oh so
that's like a green like a salsa thing okay so we've got fish over there with like jerk seasoning
and ginger and onions and garlic fish in here no nuts no okay let's take this fish so that's
jerk fish but i mean you need to put it in your taco here. And then you've got your tacos and you've got a little bit of like kind of avocado lime cream, pineapple salsa, yeah, cabbage.
A bit of like, it's basically, it's not coleslaw, it's just a bit of crunch.
And I don't know if that's any good at Scotch Bonnets or pepper sauce in case you like hot stuff.
Me neither.
With getting signed for so much,
do you feel like the pressure is more, though,
because then there's more expectation?
Not really, because the songs that I play to them,
which they signed me for,
have still not been released yet.
Oh.
So I've still got that to come.
So what has been released? don't understand Just other stuff
That I was working on
And have been working on
But not the songs
That they actually
Signed me for
So you're quite prolific
Like you
They signed me for
Three songs
That's not out yet
They must be biggans
Who are some of your
Favourite girls out there
Singing at the moment
Well Ray
I think she's dope
She's wicked
Yeah I like Mabel
Well me and Ray
Mabel got a song
Ring ring No I'm not No what are you on Cigarette Cigarette That's really good I think she's dope. She's wicked. Yeah, I like Mabel. Well, me and Mabel got a song, obviously. Ring Ring.
No, I'm not on Ring Ring.
No, what are you on?
Cigarette.
Cigarette.
That's really good.
Thank you.
Yeah, I think they're killing it.
They're good?
Yeah, it's all girls, really, innit?
Yeah.
Okay.
It feels exciting.
So, okay, do you think you've got a bad table manner?
Me?
Like, is there anything you do you think or you
don't like in others my table manners yeah i eat like a hooligan do you i eat really quick as well
oh so do i but i think that's from having a baby is it i feel like you were just everything's quick
yeah yeah is that what it is well i don't know it's like i never used to be like that you kind
of you rush and because you've always got something to do i don't think that's a terrible
you don't think that's a terrible...
You don't think so?
No.
Imagine if you're on a date though
and he's meeting you for the first time.
Imagine if it's a bad date and you're being happy.
This girl done ate the whole plate in two seconds.
It's a bad date.
She was hungry.
I think that's attractive.
Where would you go on a date?
Where would I go?
Have you got a favourite restaurant?
I'm not bothered.
No, I'm not that fussy about restaurants.
Do you prefer home food?
Yeah.
Yeah, I like being home, eating food.
What's your Christmas like?
Do you have like the whole big Jamaican...
Everything on the table.
Yeah, we have everything on the table.
And obviously, because I live with like a billion people,
our houses are always big.
So we have like a big dining table usually
and just a lot of kids.
And just, well, before when we first moved to England,
we didn't really have a house
and the house that we did have wouldn't really be big
or wouldn't really be nice enough to be inviting people.
So we would always go to my cousins and my aunties.
But now it's all at my house all the time now.
They must be really proud of you.
Yeah.
And you must be really proud of yourself.
Yeah.
Yeah, I'm proud.
I mean, you moved around a lot.
And you were saying, yeah, B&Bs.
And yeah, now you're kind of providing for your whole family.
And there's quite a lot of you.
There is a lot. I'm like, you know, growing up, you're like, yeah, I your whole family Yeah And there's quite a lot of you There is a lot I'm like you know
Growing up you're like
Yeah I'm happy
I've got all these
Brothers and sisters
And now I'm like
Why mum
Do you have so much kids
Jesus Christ
Do any of them
Would be a lot cheaper
Yeah man
Two of us
Do any of them
Want to be in music
My sister sings
Have you had her
On any of your songs yet
No not yet
Would you
But we're doing something
Yeah
Nice Yeah we're doing something yeah nice
yeah we're doing something my brother raps as well people know him his name is dutch he's out there
and then my cousin he sings raps as well my other brother raps as well he like the jackson five
yeah almost would you do like a family song no
lauren mabula has all her family on lauren mabula yeah yeah okay my family we're a bit
different so like everyone's got different personalities and it would just not no it
would be like why can't i sing this part it'd be like no but i want to do this no but i want to do
this do you like singing yeah i like singing did the singing come before the rapping yeah I was singing before rap but I knew
that
I wanted to be a rapper
first
to the audience
at least
because you can't be a singer
trying to rap
it's a bit
but you could rap
sing
yeah right
what does your son
think of it all
does he just think it
does he
oh he's so annoying
when I go to school
or anywhere
like today
football
look there's my mum there's my mum.
There's my mum.
He'd be like, look, that's my mum.
But now because he knows I don't like when he always says my name,
so he goes, I see him go after him.
That's their vlog.
Oh, bless him.
Would you like something sweet to eat?
Would you like a bit of pavlova?
Yeah, I have some pavlova.
And this food was nice, by the way.
Oh, please, you had like nothing.
Yeah, I don't eat a lot.
Yeah, look at her. Is that okay?
No, I don't eat a lot.
I'm ticked, but I don't eat a lot, innit?
I'm always like that.
You're not thick.
I'm ticked.
I'm ticked.
It's okay to be thick it it is just cut it this is so good i can't wait to eat this well you're very sweet so are you more of a
sweet tooth person i am jesse you think we need a proper knife though i'll use that knife
i've got it i've got a knife i've got a sharp. Is that too much for you?
Yeah, but I'll just eat a little bit.
I can give you a smaller bit.
Yeah, I have a smaller bit.
Do you want more strawberries instead of blackberries?
Yeah.
What I do want to know, like last things, when is the album coming?
Next year.
I think I'll be ready for the album.
I think everyone else will be quite ready too.
She keeps them. She's a tease. I know. She keeps ready to cry she keeps them she's a tease i know
she keeps them waiting she knows what she's doing she's a clever woman i know
thanks so much for doing this i know you didn't really know what you were walking
no i didn't know i know i was coming to your house is it all right it's cool
yeah it's been it's been an okay couple of hours i've always wanted to do come
down with me so i feel slightly a little puff.
Give us a score there.
I don't want to hear.
You can give a score when you leave the house.
Wow, darling.
I'm not going to lie.
Steph didn't eat that much of my food.
The food was absolutely gorgeous.
It was okay.
No, I thought it was stunning.
They loved your pavlova.
Darling, everyone loves a bit of meringue and cream.
It's true.
It's not difficult, is it?
It's true.
Well, what do you think of Steph?
Beautiful.
Has more of a potty mouth than you.
Yes.
The rap was all about sucking and female parts,
but she's pretty much a feminist, I would say.
Would you?
Yeah.
Even though she's got a song called Little Bitch?
I think that's OK.
Should I start calling you Little Bitch?
No, don't call me...
Don't, darling.
Do you think Steph's going to get some
ackee and saltfish now?
Probably.
But I have worked out her name now.
Steph London.
No, Mum.
Steph Lon Don.
Yeah.
But it's all a play on London darling. No I know that mum.
But I don't think you did. You didn't imply that before she came on. Mum because it's
really obvious. Oh okay. You know how it's spelt though. S T E F F L O N. Yeah. Steph
Lon Don. Oh my God.
Yes.
Yeah.
By the way, if you've been enjoying the music on the show,
it was created by my good friends, Peter Duffy and Pete Fraser.
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