My Culture Hits: What Musician Jordan Stephens is Reading, Watching & Listening To... 

Jordan Stephens is a musician, actor and now writer, best known as one-half of the hip-hop duo Rizzle Kicks. He also hosts the TV show Don’t Hate the Playaz. With the release of his debut book Avoidance, Drugs, Heartbreak & Dogs, Jordan shares what he is reading, watching and listening to… 

A Creative I’m Loving… is one of my best friends, [writer] Caleb Femi. He has just released a book called The Wickedest – a collection of poems about London’s longest-running house party. Caleb has inspired me as long as I’ve known him, and his vision stretches across disciplines and generations. 

The Song I Have On Repeat… is Choose You by Elmiene. My friend Tiffany showed me him, and this song has stuck with me. I absolutely love hearing men sing unapologetically about love. This song will stay with me forever. And his voice is godly. Maverick Sabre’s about to drop [a new album], though, so that’ll be next. 

The Artist I’m Obsessed With… is Studio Lenca. We actually collaborated at one of their shows a year or so ago. Since then, for them, it’s been exponential. The use of colour and strong, repeated characters mesmerises me. Shout out Tomo Campbell, too. His new show. Wow. 

The Cultural Icon I’d Most Like To Meet… is [footballer] Bukayo Saka. The man is ten years younger than me, and he’s my hero. Brave, bold and beautiful. Has had to deal with more pressures and abuse than anyone should have to at that age and embraced it with a smile. F*cking hero. 

The Movie I Always Recommend… is Wild Tales. I love it because the main character is ‘revenge’. Shown across maybe five contained stories. The last one is the best, for sure. A proper release. 

The Social Media Trend I’m Loving… is pictures of dolphins being posted with seemingly random personal facts or statements. Nothing will ever surpass TikTok. 

Jordan Stephens’ new book Avoidance, Drugs, Heartbreak & Dogs is out now

Jamie Styles is Editorial Assistant at Service95