
“My mum only just about knew who Michael Jackson was,” shares RnB singer Debbie backstage at All Points East. “My parents weren’t just religious; they were very not of this world.” It’s a startling revelation, for sure, but delivered so matter-of-factly that it somehow seems even more incomprehensible hearing it first-hand in the flesh. We are speaking on Stormzy’s curated ‘This Is What We Mean Day’. Later, the 23-year-old will join the rap superstar as he tears up the stage amid the sort of the torrential downpour that you’d associate with an Old Testament Bible story or a documentary looking at high-season precipitation in the Amazon rainforest. It will nevertheless be a triumphant set, with Debbie reprising her soulful contributions to ‘Firebabe’ and ‘Give It To The Water’ from Stormzy’s acclaimed third album, This Is What I Mean. Right now, however, the sun is winning the war as we nestle into two cushioned wicker chairs and discuss the singer’s unusual upbringing. Debbie is warm and friendly, composed and collected, having not long delivered an enchanting main stage set of her own. And, contrary to the impression she’s just given, her roots were not in some far-flung Idaho excommunicated from pop culture. She and her sister were raised in south-east London; their dad, a reverend, their mother, a pastor and a teacher.

Photo: @sharonlopez
READ MORE: Cautious Clay: ‘I’m attracted to the mess’
Debbie started writing songs during this fertile period of musical discovery. The lyrics tumbled out of her. Several documented conflict that she’d witnessed at home, whilst others worked through growing pains and the angst of a young adult making sense of the world. “I kind of just close my eyes and let it flow,” she says of a writing process that continues to this day. “I don’t really know what happens when I do it. I think because I’ve got ADHD, I’m just like [mimics constant whirring], and it just comes out on paper!” During the pandemic, Debbie attracted the attention of London record label, 0207 Def Jam. Her debut single, ‘Is This Real Love?’, set out the singer’s stall. It was a dose of retro-glazed RnB, oven-baked in heartache and hard times, backed by acoustic guitars and the sort of staccato arpeggios that TLC fans will fondly recall. Subsequent singles, such as ‘Stay’ and ‘Cousin’s Car’, have followed a similar course.

Photo: @sharonlopez