X Factor‘s controversial contestant Honey G has revealed that she had never performed live prior to appearing on the show.
Before being voted off at the weekend, the 35-year-old white rapper from Harrow in North-West London – or “North Weezy” as she calls it – had been the major talking point of this year’s series, with some calling her act a problematic parody of hip-hop culture. The Guardian‘s Lola Okolosie recently argued that her performance on the show is “modern-day blackface”.
The reality TV contestant had seen herself accused of being an actress by a member of Little Mix and described as “taking the mickey out of rap” by Professor Green. Lily Allen also described Honey G as “offensive”, adding that the act was “so wrong on so many levels”.
Appearing on ITV’s This Morning, Honey G said: “Before I entered The X Factor, I’d never done a live rap gig ever. I’d never performed as a rap artist. So you know, from that point up until now, I feel a rap artist has been born. I’ve grown as an artist throughout the competition, and I’ve seen my potential”.
She added that while she hadn’t rapped in public before, she had “been a musician the whole of my life”. She said: “I’ve been posting all my tracks and recordings on my SoundCloud page, so I’ve been rapping for five years and producing music and recording in the studio.”
The contestant, real name Anna Gilford, revealed that she had started calling herself Honey G “in 2000, while studying in uni,” explaining: “One of my mates came up with Honey G – the first letter of my surname is G, and the Honey is because [he said] ‘You’re sweet like honey’ so…”
“I’m not fake, this isn’t an act,” she continued. “Obviously I’ve grown up on the underground scene, I’ve been a musician the whole of my life.”
Watch in the video below.
Honey G was voted off X Factor by the judges on Sunday night’s show (November 27).
Read more: Is ‘The X Factor”s ‘Genuine Urban Artist’ Honey G For Real?