Loyle Carner became a musician to provide for his family.
The 24-year-old rapper – whose real name is Ben Coyle-Larner – dropped out of university when his stepfather died in February 2014 because he felt it was best to focus on trying to "make money" and though he admitted he was "drinking a lot", the ‘Loose Ends’ singer never behaved too badly because of his responsibilities to his mother and younger half-brother.
He said: "I was the oldest guy in my family left who wasn’t useless so I kind of had no choice. I was like, ‘I need to make money somehow. If it falls apart, I’ll think of a Plan B.’
"I wasn’t thinking, ‘Yeah, I’ll be a famous rapper.’
"Don’t get me wrong, I was drinking quite a lot and going out more than I should have but there was always this thing in me that knew I couldn’t push it too far.
"If, say, I got arrested or was mucking around and fell off a balcony, my family are f***ed. Ever since then it’s been an inspiration for me.
"The times when you’re touring and there’s no one in the crowd, if I didn’t have that I would have been thinking, ‘What am I doing here? This is stupid.’
"But every time I didn’t want to do something, I’d think of my mum and brother and go, ‘I have to be here.’ "
And Loyle admitted he feels the pressure of his financial responsibilities.
He told Q magazine: "I’ve had some moderate success and people started looking at me like I was that guy but really I’ve got two mortgages to pay – my mum’s, my own, my little brother is going to uni, I’ve got to pay for that, I’ve got to help raise him and be a big man for him, I have to keep my girlfriend safe.
"Just because you make a bit of P, it’s all relative. As your pleasure grows, your stress grows.
"Like Biggie Smalls said, ‘Mo money mo problems.’ "
Loyle Carner wanted to support family
