This much I know: Kae Tempest, 39

Photography by Jesse Glazzard

Creativity is the medicine we all have access to. When we don’t, we grow unwell. That’s true for myself, and for every single one of us.

I don’t know anything, really. None of us do. The only reason we think we do is because of where we were born, who we were brought up around, what we read and saw. If any of those had been changed, we’d think differently.

My earliest memories are Rosh Hashanah and Passover at my nan’s. All the family would get together. I’d be underneath the table, looking at everyone’s feet. I had an uncle who had a dead glamorous wife, with lovely shoes. He had lovely socks, too.

Discovering music changed the course of my life. Everything that had been scary or dark about being a teenager became full of hope and wonder. Once I jumped in, I was fully immersed.

On stage, I could escape my physical form. I threw myself hard into what I was making, I thought that would get me out of my body. I had no access to [queer] community, only through my partners and my lovers. Everybody was cis and straight. I love them, they’re my brothers. But I was suffocating.

Gender dysphoria is real pain. Every day of your life it hurts. You’re just wrong. I’m in my manhood now, and it’s incredible. This is the best bit, really, ever, since I was a kid: I’m alive. Not in pain. It’s incredible and beautiful.

Working as a street charity fundraiser is horrible. I liked watching people passing by, but found the job distressing. People with loads of money didn’t want to give, while those who had suffered and had less money were generous.

My dog is a deep guy. He’s ridiculously present, emotionally, with me. He’s sarcastic, a little judgmental and quite camp, but he’s a deep one. He really shows up. We’re kindred spirits.

Why would anybody well-adjusted decide they need to be on a platform, under lights, speaking for 70 minutes? Only neuroses would send a person up there.

Accept the current. Part of me might wish [I’d transitioned] earlier in life, but another part thinks: you’ve got to a place that feels so good, why be mad at how you got there? I can’t accept my blessings and reject the challenges. It’s all part of the same life force. I’m full of gratitude and wonder. It’s amazing to be alive.

Kae Tempest’s latest album, Self Titled, is out now via Island Records