Croydon, the birthplace of many new and emerging artists has been named the music capital of the UK. A good proportion of these stars happen to be from Thornton Heath.  

Stormzy may be the most well known but fellow MOBO award winner Faith Child is one of many emerging artists from CR7, writes Aisha Jade. 

One thing that many of these artists have in common is their connection to the church. Faith Child’s latest single That Was Then details his experience growing up Thornton Heath “The 7” and references just how important religion is to him in everyday life.

He explains: “Growing up in Thornton Heath was and is great. It has a plethora of ethnicities which gave me a little taste of different cultures. I never experienced racism as we all used to see and experience people from different backgrounds.

“My song That Was Then was inspired by my time in secondary school. I loved school I was head boy. I attended St Mary’s High School, which is opposite West Croydon bus station, and it was often loitered by school kids and occasionally led to misdemeanours and altercations. 

“Reflecting to where we are now, it’s a reason to celebrate. A lot of the offenders have turned their life around and are doing something positive and more constructive with themselves. 

“Growing up in Thornton Heath has allowed me to be open to exploring different cultures and open minded in general. 

“Being around diversity, it has always been the norm to interact with people who look and sound different to me, our differences is what unifies us, as well as bring something different to the table. The different cultures I have come across have inspired the eclectic sound of my music.

“Having been born and raised in the church, I have always implemented my morals into my music. The world is dark as it is and being able to sprinkle substance into music is my way of alleviating some of the worries we have today. 

“My name Faith Child relates to my birth story. My mother was about to abort me due to being a single mother, with four kids, going through domestic violence and struggling to make ends meet. Whilst in the abortion clinic God spoke to her for the first time and told her not to abort me and to have faith in him, so I was a ‘faith child’”!