Avoidance, Drugs, Heartbreak And Dogs By Jordan Stephens Review – Not So Chill

The Rizzle Kicks star explores the fallout from fame in this candid portrait of the artist as a struggling young man

Jordan Stephens’ energetic and unguarded memoir brings to mind two classic pop songs: Jimmy Ruffin’s What Becomes of the Broken Hearted and Bob and Marcia’s Young, Gifted and Black. Answering to the latter description can be costly, Stephens shows. The small print on the price tag of the fame that comes alongside it reads: you will develop an entitled and irresistible “desire to fuck everything”, with lasting damage to your mental health.

In the past, Stephens has been open about his struggles as part of his online campaign #IAMWHOLE, aimed at tackling the stigma of mental illness and ADHD, with which he was diagnosed in childhood. Now the musician and actor has written a memoir whose title has the same initials, but here they don’t stand for “attention deficit hyperactivity disorder”. Instead, A is for avoidance (of responsibility), D is for drugs (“cocaine cushioned the chaos” of life), H for heartbreak (the book’s animating story), and D for dogs (his is special, “incredibly chill. Could be Buddhist”).