I want to help Wolverhampton's youngsters, says city star Goldie

But Goldie today said the city he really wants to make a difference in isWolverhampton, where he first sprang to prominence 30 years ago.

The artist and musician – real name Clifford Joseph Price – has challenged the city council to give him a chance to shine again on home turf.

He was talking to the Express & Star after it had been revealed that the spirit of the man who brought graffiti art to Wolverhampton was being rekindled 30 years later with street art returning to Heath Town.

Goldie said: "I am glad that this is going ahead but I do not generate any pleasure in it because it looks like a token gesture.

"They are asking people to brighten up a grey area of the city but won't even supply them with the paint. It is a little bit condescending – like turning a blind eye to a brothel.

"Surely they should give the kids more of a chance. Are they just going to give them a free area to paint in? Is that the most they can do? It is an insult.

"Graffiti has come too far for the council to be looking down on it. The people and the private sector are well ahead of local authorities. Look at how the new iPhones have moved ahead with all their bells and whistles while local authorities are still bound up in red tape."

He explained: "I ran away from Wolverhampton to make a name for myself. I had to create the character of Goldie almost as a defence mechanism.

"I was one of the fortunate ones but there are thousands and thousands of kids who are not. They are growing up even more frustrated. What is needed is a designated area where a workshop can be set up that can take the steam out of the local community. At the moment it is like a kettle – if you allow it to boil for too long, it will overspill."

He appeared with the Heritage Orchestra in 2,500 seat sell-out show at the Royal Festival Hall on June 21 in a performance of his 1995 debut electronic drum and bass album Timeless for which he had notated the electronic music from the original recording to enable it to be performed with instruments.

"They are proud of me when they want to be and I am prepared to give them my experience. I get invited to do that at places all over the world but not in Wolverhampton.

"Give me the revenue from speed cameras for six months and I will tell you how to spend it for the good of the local community."

Councillor Elias Mattu, Wolverhampton City Council's Cabinet Member for Leisure and Communities, said: "Artist Paul Pilgrim approached us about working voluntarily on the hoardings in Heath Town and we were delighted to support this, as we have done with similar projects across the city.

"This particular project is also pleasing due to the involvement of young people from the local community.

"Goldie made a film with us promoting the value of culture in Wolverhampton and this is played on a loop at both the Art Gallery and Light House. We also asked him if he would be interested in working with us in the future, to which he said yes. While a suitable opportunity has not come up to date, we remain keen to do something in the future. But we are pleased that Goldie still takes a keen interest in his home city and would welcome discussing with him any ideas and proposals he might have."

Paul Pilgrim, the man behind the rebirth of street art in Wolverhampton, commented: "The council have taken a risk and allowed numerous street art projects to get up and running in Wolverhampton, taking the first tentative steps towards becoming a cosmopolitan culturally diverse city.

The art work that has been created so far has generated a lot of positive feedback.

Goldie is keen to be involved in a future art project and knows we would love him to bring some of his vision and experience to a future project he is an original innovator of the graffiti scene." Goldie has first hand knowledge of the pressures on the young in areas like Heath Town and Whitmore Reans and the heartbreak it can bring. In September 2010 his son Jamie Price – a member of the Heath Town-based Firetown Crew – was jailed for a minimum 21 years for murder after stabbing 21-year-old Marlon Morris on Broad Street in Wolverhampton city centre on August 24 2008. The victim, from Pendeford, was knifed four times, and died of his injuries.

Goldie is unwilling to talk in detail about the tragedy but said: "Two families were more or less destroyed by that." He concluded: "It will take more than an arts project to save those kids but you have got to start somewhere."