As Dundee rapper Shifty Presidents approached his 40th birthday he knew something had to change.
The independent hip hop artist had been drinking alcohol and taking drugs for ten years.
But as the milestone approached, Shifty – whose real name is Mark Smith – decided it was time to change his lifestyle and get sober.
“It’s like you are living a double life,” he says.
“You have a deep, dark secret that only you know about and you know it’s a really bad cycle to be in.
“So when it was coming up to the big birthday I was like ok, this is horrible man, you need to pull it together here.
“You are going to be a 40-year-old man – you need to sort this out.”
And this is exactly what the former Dundee Hurricanes american football player did.
At the start of January this year, Mark embarked on a year-long mission centred on sobriety and wellness.
Not only has ‘the mission’ seen him quit alcohol and drugs, but he is also taking part in activities to raise money for various charities as part of the 365-day challenge.
It also comes in the wake of him releasing his debut single, ‘Go To Work’, earlier this year.
How an injury led to Shifty’s substance abuse
Mark revealed it was around ten years ago that he started drinking alcohol and taking drugs.
He confesses it was a way for him to ‘fit in’ as he had always felt like an outsider since coming to Dundee from Chicago 20 years ago.
“I was born in Canada and grew up in Chicago.
“My parents split up and I came over to Dundee to live with my mum and my three brothers.
“I knew it was going to be really tough – I was 20-years-old when I first came here and I was just trying to find my feet.
“My dream was to play American football which I thought might be dead in the water coming to Scotland.
“But within the first week my uncle said there was a team here – the Dundee Hurricanes.”
He soon started playing with the team, but a year or so later he sustained a bad injury.
He explains: “The Dundee Hurricanes were going through the playoffs at the time and in the first half of a playoff game in Reading I tore my ACL and my leg ballooned.
“That was essentially the end of my dream.
“And that was the moment I started smoking cannabis.”
‘Getting a taste’ for alcohol
Mark said it soon became an everyday habit.
And it was around this time that Mark, under the name of Shifty Presidents, started doing his own hip hop music.
He says: “I started meeting more people who were into bands and live music and this was all around Dundee as well as Glasgow and Edinburgh.
“Once I started getting into the music scene and going out to events, it was all centred around drinking.
“I had never really liked alcohol, but then I started to get a taste for it.”
He continued: “People started offering me vodka and whiskies and then you are going to house parties where everyone has bottles.
“And for the first time it felt like I was being accepted.”
Drug use started off as ‘a social thing at weekends’
Mark watched a lot of drug taking at the parties he attended. He told me he was reluctant to take part at first, but eventually he started taking cocaine.
“It was very much just a social thing at weekends and I took it because it makes you feel invincible and super confident.
“It was also something everyone was doing together and we were all part of something.
“The thing with drugs is that they take away those barriers and your inhibitions.”
But it was after the Covid pandemic hit in March 2020 that Mark found his alcohol and drug use had become a real issue.
“I never got to the stage where I was taking cocaine every day but when Covid came it became a more regular thing.
“Then I would start having a drink on my own while I was making my music.
“I was drinking anything to get me drunk and I wasn’t even doing it for the enjoyability anymore – it’s a slippery slope.
“It then started to affect my mental health and I went into a depression.
“I was eating takeaways, rubbish and felt sluggish with no energy. My weight crept up to 230 lbs (around 104kg).
“I wasn’t happy and that’s why I decided I needed to make a change and get healthier.”
How a milestone birthday turned his life around
Mark turned 40 on March 23 last year and it was this milestone birthday that was the catalyst for a lifestyle overhaul.
“With my 40th coming up I knew that was my chance to mentally make a shift.
“I just thought if I don’t do it now then I will never do it.”
He started doing daily walks along the waterfront in Dundee and began following a Keto diet with intermittent fasting.
But after he ended up falling off the wagon again briefly, he was determined to make a permanent change.
So at the end of last year, Mark decided he would make 2024 a full year of sobriety.
“I made a declaration on January 1, 2024 on social media – so that once I told everyone I was committing to do this, there was no going back.
“I said I would start every day for the next 12 months with a cold plunge along with a motivational message.
“My plan was to record it and put it on my social media so this would prevent me from having any slip ups – making myself accountable to everyone who is following me online.
“Some friends said they would do it with me – that’s when Team 365 was born.”
A year of sobriety
Since the start of 2024, Mark has completed daily early morning cold plunges at The Dungeon, former urban bar venue in Dundee.
He also decided to set himself a series of challenges while fundraising for various good causes at the same time.
So far he has completed a 21-day food fast and a bungee jump in Killicrankie.
There are also plans to do a skydive in May, walk the West Highland Way and complete the four Kiltwalks this year in Glasgow, Edinburgh, Aberdeen and Dundee.
“I decided that not only was I going to do this year sober but I wanted to face every fear I have and really challenge myself,” he says.
“I wanted to face my fears by doing different challenges and raise money for various charities at the same time.
“I am hoping to raise £100,000 and then split it between Andy’s Man Club, Breast Cancer Research, Chest, Heart and Stroke Scotland and the British Heart Foundation.”
Making a change for the better
So how does Mark feel a few months into his sobriety journey?
“I feel 100 per cent better for cutting out alcohol and getting healthier.
“The key for me was making my declaration on social media because I can’t go back on it – I am a man of my word.
“I get messages from people every single day saying how I have motivated them to quit drinking and encouraged them.
“This shows me that what I am doing is actually making a difference.”
