S-X at

S-X performed last night to a few hundred people at Newhampton Arts Centre to raise money for a local charity which supports homeless people- the Good Shepherd Ministry.

He had a section of the crowd ‘moshing’ from the first song that he performed but it was all in good, clean-hearted spirit whilst the youngest reveller spotted in the crowd was just 18 months old.

It was really humbling that he had a host of his (Smestow) high school friends, who are budding music artists warm up the concert for him. The line-up included a host of extremely talented RnB and Hip Hop artists: SophieLou, Told Yaa and CJ who well and truly hyped up the crowd ready for S-X. Told Yaa and CJ both beamed with joy that someone from ‘their city had made it’.

S-X rose to fame as a producer when he was just 17. He produced the famous grime beat ‘Woo Riddim’ when he was just 15 and two years later he collaborated with the likes of D Double E. Talking to him backstage, he acknowledges that this was the turning point where he went from the boy making beats in his bedroom to a world renowned producer.

S-X has since worked with a whole host of artists including Young Money, Childish Gambino, J Cole and Lily Allen. I asked him how it felt the first time he landed a track with one of these big names and he told me that it felt amazing after years of persistence. Aged just 15, he would find out when these artists were interviewing at Radio 1 in London and wait outside for hours to make sure they got one of his demos. And, his hard work paid off because he is now travelling across the Atlantic producing and performing with some of the biggest names in hip hop.

But, S-X hasn’t forgotten where he’s from. I asked him why he had chosen to do this charity gig at in his home town and he said: “I still live in Wolverhampton and I see the homeless people around the city and want to help them.

"I linked up with the Good Shepherd Ministry who do amazing work helping homeless people, not just with food and clothes but getting rehoused. I spent a day with my family serving at GSM and I wanted to do this gig to raise awareness and money for the charity.

"We’re all humans and sometimes homeless people are dehumanised and that’s wrong, I want to help them”.

Multi-talented

It was clear that he had a heart for homeless people and spoke about the spike in mental health, especially amongst homeless people, he felt he could relate as he himself has bipolar disorder.

During the concert, S-X performed his most current hits including Show Me Love and Had Me, Lost Me, which had the crowd on a high all night long.

S-X definitely showed up for his home town and made sure that the night was one to remember. The multi-talented artist has gone from grime to hip hop and now to what I would describe as RnB, and last night he proved that he has the ability to nail each one of these genres both as a producer and performer.

Even more humbling than anything else, he shouted out his school friends from stage, pointing at one who had actually given him the name S-X.

His mum, sister and girlfriend also joined lively revellers, dancing on their feet all night.

I spoke to his mum, who works in a nursing home in Albrighton. Beaming with joy, she told me: “I go to every one of his shows, I’m so proud of him.”

She laughed about the ‘racket’ he used to make in the house producing music from the age of nine and spoke of her proudest moment when she first saw him on stage in Camden.

It was an exhilarating night, and if you like hip hop and RnB then you must go and see S-X live, the vibe was nothing but energetic. It was a family friendly event, with both children and adults alike dancing all night long. There were fans that had come all the way from Ireland to see him.

The boy from Wolves joked backstage with me using Black Country dialect when it he told me, ‘It’s alright ay it’.

It’s obvious that this Wolverhampton boy, no matter how successful, won’t forget where he’s from.

By Beverley Momenabadi