SEE WHEN IT IS ALL ABOUT ME? THAT’S WHEN I AM ILL

ACCLAIMED RAPPER AND POLEMICIST DARREN McGARVEY ON HIS TUMULTUOUS JOURNEY TO SUCCESS – AND HIS CONSTANT STRUGGLE TO DEAL WITH IT

IT has been a whirlwind few months

for Darren McGarvey. The Scottish

rapper – known as Loki – won the

Orwell Prize for his memoir Poverty

Safari in June. He’s since had film

and television companies vying for

the rights to his life story and enjoyed

a soaring public profile.

We’ve had this interview in the diary for

several weeks beforehand and when

McGarvey tweets about clearing his schedule

as he lets the news of winning the prestigious

literary award sink in, I fear our appointment

may be shelved.

But here we are in a coffee shop

overlooking George Square in Glasgow on a

humid Thursday afternoon. McGarvey

arrives a few minutes late apologising

profusely (the decidedly unstarry mode of

transport that is the bus from his home in

East Kilbride was stuck in traffic).

In person, there is a shyness that belies his

outspoken reputation. McGarvey’s eyes dart

warily as he attempts to get the measure of

any agenda I may have brought to the table.

Yet there’s no doubting his fierce intelligence

as we quickly leap into discussing his

often-tumultuous journey.

It may seem as if McGarvey, 34, has

suddenly exploded into the public

consciousness, but the man himself insists it

has been a slow burn since last November