Rapper ArrDee admits fame isn’t “rosy” all the time.
The ‘Flowers’ hitmaker, 20 – who is releasing his latest collaboration with Grime legend Bugzy Malone, 32, called ‘One Direction’, later today (27.07.23) – insists he’s never wanted the “celebrity” life that comes with being a charting star.
In an interview with The Sun newspaper’s Bizarre column, he said: “I’d be lying if I said everything was f***ing rosy 100 per cent of the time. It’s difficult, and there are times where you don’t want to be seen.
“I’ve been doing this since I was 18 – it’s like I’m in ‘The Truman Show’.
“It’s not easy growing up like that because obviously teenagers and young adults make mistakes.
“I live in the exact same town, and I’ve got the same mates around me. I haven’t tried to act like a celebrity.”
The British star – whose real name is Riley Davies – catapulted to fame after he went viral on TikTok and has since stacked up a series of Top 10 UK hits.
But despite his roaring success, the artist previously admitted he felt pushed around by older artists who give him unsolicited advice.
The ‘Cheeky Bars’ star slammed those who try and “dictate” what he should do and insisted “no one got me here apart from myself”.
He exclusively told BANG Showbiz in 2022: “I feel like because I’m a young artist a bunch of people, whether it’s artists or people in certain positions that are quite a bit older than me, feel like they can dictate what I’m supposed to do or advise me on doing this or that – but nobody has got me here apart from me.”
He went on: “I feel like just because I’m young doesn’t mean I have to be treated like a child, especially in an industry where you have grown up mad fast everything is moving at such a rapid pace you’re developing as a person at a rapid pace.”
The Brighton-born star has also had to deal with the stigma of his hometown and challenge the negative stereotypes as he believes it’s important to represent where he’s from.
He previously said: “I definitely had more to prove coming from Brighton. When we did the freestyle, 6am in Brighton, a lot of people advised against calling it that. They were like: ‘Brighton has got a bit of a stigma.’ I was like: no, you know what, it’s bigger than me, so if I can shine a light on the town … because my whole personality, me being comfortable in my skin comes from Brighton, because there are crazy characters out here, but no one gets judged, so I wouldn’t be me without being born and raised here, and I want to be telling it like it is.”