Scribe tells of gambling shame

Scribe tells of gambling shame
By Amie Hickland

Hip-hop artist Scribe jumped at the chance to be ambassador for Gamblefree Week because his own life was torn apart by a gambling addiction.

He spoke to an invited audience at Masterton District Council on Friday to raise awareness of the effects gambling has on lives.

"I'm ashamed of my addiction but I'm not ashamed of owning up to it," he said.

The artist has many achievements to his name and spent more than three months in the No1 spot on the charts in 2003, with his single Not Many.

After battling a childhood filled with domestic violence and then achieving success, he found gambling to be an addiction he just couldn't beat. "It may be just fun but it can develop into problem gambling later."

He said a lot of people thought "just because you have made it, all of your problems go away" - but it actually maximised problems if they were not dealt with.

"I decided this wasn't who I was," he said.

Scribe told his audience the week was about raising awareness of gambling in communities and everybody needed to help.

The regional award winners of the Scribewithme song competition were also announced but most were accepted on behalf of anonymous entrants.

Scribe performed his yet-to-be-released single All Black Everything in public for the first time, to show his support for the New Zealand rugby team.

The artist worked on the track in collaboration with deejay P-Money and said it would be "dropped" on radio on Monday.

He also visited three Wairarapa colleges to spread the message to youth. "I really encourage you to dream big," he told them.