A mural tribute to a well-known Bristol rapper, who died after taking his own life, has now been repainted. Friends and family of Martin Luther Walker, aka Sirplus, have organised a gathering this Saturday to mark the occasion. Bristol rappers will each have a 90-second performance slot on the day.
The original mural was painted in 2020 shortly after Martin ‘Sirplus’ died from hypoxic brain injury after a suicide attempt left him in a coma. The mural, which is located in St Werburghs close to where his son still lives, was painted over by accident in 2022.
Following a fundraiser, the original work has been restored and a local production company will be filming at the event on Saturday. They plan to create a new video in memory of the late Bristol rapper, with 16 bars from each rap artist, in front of the mural.
READ MORE: Tributes paid to dad-of-one who had the' biggest smile and even bigger heart'
Steven Draper, aka Krazy, was a close friend of Martin's. He said he thought it would be a good way to pay tribute to his friend “with his friends and family there, doing what he loved doing the most.”
Mr Draper said: “It means a lot for us as a city to have him back in a place where he is supposed to be. The place couldn’t be better because it’s [so close] to his son’s house.”
Martin Hartley aka Locallad, another close friend, is also helping to organise the event this Saturday. He described Martin ‘Sirplus’ as one of his biggest inspirations.
Mr Hartley had previously been in a rap group with Martin and said that he had always been impressed by his music but also saddened by the “deep depression” his friend carried around. He said: “He was always such a loved person."
He spoke of discrimination he [Mr Hartley] faced while growing up in Hillfields and said people would use the n-word "every day", but when he met Sirplus he "felt like I was part of something".
He added: “Sirplus taught me how to write, not that I couldn’t write but the way he used to structure things and how I saw him putting it down on paper. When I first met him it was like I just met method man or red man, he was one of my biggest inspirations.”
Mr Hartley also feels that it is important to bring people together and talk about mental health. Having also lost other friends recently, he plans to run a local mental health awareness campaign which he hopes to launch in the next few months.
The death of Martin was not one any of his friends or family saw coming and came as a shock at the time, Mr Hartley told Bristol Live. Speaking of the tragedy, Mr Hartley added: “When I found out my heart sank, none of us saw this coming.
“But he was tormented with a lot of stuff and he always struggled with his mental health. He used to mope about sometimes, his depression was so deep.
“He was such a lovely bloke, a brilliant person with such talent. I listen to his music and it brings a tear to my eyes, some of the best music is the stuff he hasn’t released.”
People will be meeting between 3pm and 3.30pm on Saturday (March 11) at the mural by Mina Road Park in St Werburghs, and Venomous Visuals will start filming at 4pm. Many Bristol artists who knew Sirplus will perform 16 bars each in a rap cypher format over pre-arranged beats.
Venomous Visuals will film and edit the performance which will be later uploaded onto the Wordlife channel. The restored mural of Sirplus was painted by two local artists: Jody Thomas and Turroe. The event is being supported by GrizWear, a Bristol-based clothing brand.
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