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The Guardian - UK
The Guardian - UK
Lifestyle
James McMahon

Skin: ‘I get bored if things aren’t hard’

‘I don’t mean to sound arrogant. I think everyone can sing. They just can’t sing as well as I do!’: Skin.
‘I don’t mean to sound arrogant. I think everyone can sing. They just can’t sing as well as I do!’: Skin. Photograph: Brett Stevens/Trunk Archive

My first memory is getting told off at school. I was small. My dad was in the air force and I went to school on the base. We once had to draw a giant, as a class. Everyone went out to play, but I stayed behind and painted the giant’s feet green. I got told off, but I just knew they had to be green.

I’m from Brixton, proper Brixton, not trendy Brixton or gentrified Brixton. I love Brixton, even though a lot of my community is being kicked out. But I always wanted to get out of there, too. I wanted to see and do other things.

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