tag:theconversation.com,2011:/us/topics/stormzy-50298/articlesStormzy – The Conversation2022-12-09T12:49:26Ztag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1962512022-12-09T12:49:26Z2022-12-09T12:49:26ZStormzy: This Is What I Mean – spirituality takes centre stage on the artist’s new album<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/499802/original/file-20221208-12402-uu5no9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C0%2C6607%2C3587&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Stormzy performs during the 56th Montreux Jazz Festival.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://epaimages.com/search.pp#">Gabriel Monnet</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>From the beginning of his career, <a href="https://theconversation.com/why-you-dont-see-many-black-and-ethnic-minority-faces-in-cultural-spaces-and-what-happens-if-you-call-out-the-system-128792">Stormzy</a> has <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HPuj6UISMhs">unapologetically shared</a> his spiritual journey as a central part of his artistry. On his latest album, <a href="https://open.spotify.com/album/5feRs2ejrMcxuM5hcDDSBb">This Is What I Mean</a>, Stormzy fuses his spiritual worldview with the day to day issues that are most important to him.</p>
<p>Songs such as <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XCzhOL9PBiA">Give It To The Water</a> and <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-dXAgOc-HYE">Holy Spirit</a> continue his conversations about faith in his music. </p>
<p>Stormzy is not alone in making art at the crossroads of popular culture and religion. Other contemporary examples include artists such as <a href="https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=2ahUKEwiEpdKLrer7AhUwQUEAHY0RBoYQyCl6BAgYEAM&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.youtube.com%2Fwatch%3Fv%3DgLj9YCI3fuA&usg=AOvVaw1Ei1nDzTUxXsL2vHRxmpdy">Dave</a> and <a href="https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=2ahUKEwjL8u3Grer7AhUpSkEAHR_DCUAQwqsBegQIXxAE&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.youtube.com%2Fwatch%3Fv%3Dqb2WxKdXcxQ&usg=AOvVaw0CrYbpJ9oM1eyTDTfncb4W">Chance the Rapper</a>. Despite the decline in commitment to <a href="https://www.thebritishacademy.ac.uk/documents/1043/11_Woodhead_1825.pdf">organised religion</a> in the UK, religious symbols, ideas and themes remain present in <a href="https://www.bloomsbury.com/us/call-me-the-seeker-9780826417138/">popular music.</a></p>
<h2>The decline of Christianity</h2>
<p>Between 2011 and 2021, the number of people in England and Wales stating they have “no religion” <a href="https://www.secularism.org.uk/news/2022/11/census-england-and-wales-less-than-half-the-population-christian">increased from 25% to 37%</a>.</p>
<p>Recent census data also shows that for the first time, <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2022/nov/29/census-2021-in-charts-christianity-now-minority-religion-in-england-and-wales">less than half the population</a> now describe themselves as <a href="https://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/culturalidentity/religion/bulletins/religionenglandandwales/census2021">Christians</a>. This change could be interpreted as reflecting a lack of commitment to spirituality in society, or disenchantment.</p>
<p>Disenchantment is a term popularised by the <a href="https://www.jstor.org/stable/24579711#metadata_info_tab_contents">sociologist Max Weber</a>. It describes the western world predicted to exist once science and rationality dissolve the need for spiritual and religious beliefs. An enchanted worldview, meanwhile, is open to the existence of a spiritual realm.</p>
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<figcaption><span class="caption">Stormzy has a history of using gospel choirs in his performances.</span></figcaption>
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<p>The decline in commitment to organised religion does not necessarily equate to a rise in atheism, nor does it automatically indicate an <a href="https://www.theosthinktank.co.uk/cmsfiles/The-Nones---Who-are-they-and-what-do-they-believe.pdf">aversion to religion</a>. </p>
<p>In This Is What I Mean, Stormzy works through his spiritual journey without adopting an evangelistic tone. This may carry an appeal to those who are not committed to a tightly organised church but have a curiosity about, or sensitivity to, spiritual matters.</p>
<h2>The age of authenticity</h2>
<p>Stormzy grew up attending church – his mother was a <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/music/2017/feb/19/stormzy-interview-gang-signs-and-prayers-respect-me-frank-ocean-adele">Pentecostal minister</a> in Streatham, London. He has no hesitation in bringing his team together for prayer before their shows and his songs (though often dealing with everyday issues) contain quotations from the bible. </p>
<p>In <a href="http://youtube.com/watch?v=DxsjQ967kV8">Blinded by Your Grace</a> Stormzy (speaking of his relationship to God) states, “it’s not by blood, and it’s not by birth, but oh my God, what a God I serve”. He is indicating that he has been “adopted” by God, a direct reference to John 1:13.</p>
<p>Many of the <a href="http://mikedolbear.com/interviews/matty-brown-interview/">musicians</a> and <a href="https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/meet-debbie-your-sound-of-the-summer-82l8d3wc7">singers</a> Stormzy uses come from a church background and he readily <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EBwaflYUYrM">uses gospel choirs</a> in his performances. All of these choices reflect the <a href="https://link.springer.com/referenceworkentry/10.1007/978-1-4614-6086-2_9026">enchanted</a> worldview from which he operates.</p>
<p>But it would be a mistake to assume that Stormzy is positioning himself as a representative of the church because of his overtly Christian spirituality. Instead, through his artistry, Stormzy acknowledges the tension between his spiritual commitment and his own self-confessed shortcomings. In Holy Spirit, he sings, “although I’m far from perfect, I need you [God] to hold me close”.</p>
<p>Stormzy could be considered a representative of what philosopher <a href="https://www.giffordlectures.org/books/secular-age">Charles Taylor</a> has termed <a href="https://theotherjournal.com/2008/06/religious-belonging-in-an-age-of-authenticity-a-conversation-with-charles-taylor-part-two-of-three/">The Age of Authenticity</a>. This is the idea that “everyone has their own particular way of being human and you can either be true or untrue to that”.</p>
<p>In an age of authenticity, people seek to find greater spiritual depth than can be offered in a disenchanted world. Instead of conforming to the models imposed by others, each person expresses their humanity (and spiritual commitments) in the way they choose.</p>
<p>The very title of Stormzy’s album, This Is What I Mean, can be interpreted as a reflection of this expressive age of authenticity.</p>
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<figcaption><span class="caption">Stormzy recites a passage from Luke’s Gospel on BBC One, Christmas 2019.</span></figcaption>
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<p>His lyrics about faith are often conversational. “If you knew the burdens, the burdens are so heavy”, he sings on Holy Spirit, “but Lord, you made me ready, to carry all my burdens”. This testimonial style of writing reveals a very personal spiritual journey that Stormzy happens to be sharing with the world through his music. </p>
<p>Cynics may suggest that the continued focus on spiritual issues is similar to the trajectory of some American rappers. Although his behaviour does not appear to be in keeping with the spiritual values he professes, Kanye West has met with much commercial success in <a href="https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=2ahUKEwj_6OmbtOr7AhWSWcAKHUeeDfcQFnoECAwQAQ&url=https%3A%2F%2Ftheconversation.com%2Fi-teach-and-play-gospel-music-and-i-think-kanyes-jesus-is-king-is-a-remarkable-gospel-album-126191&usg=AOvVaw1ninsxjhiLhCCjhMQ7C-Y4">his gospel music ventures</a>, indicating that there is a market for this type of music. </p>
<p>But there is nothing to suggest that Stormzy has ulterior motives for foregrounding the spiritual aspects of his music.</p>
<h2>Spirituality in a post-Christian era</h2>
<p>This Is What I Mean enters UK pop culture at a time when gigs and personal listening through streaming services have become <a href="https://www.openbookpublishers.com/books/10.11647/obp.0172">new sites for spiritual experience</a>.</p>
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<img alt="Black and white photo of Stormzy in a t-shirt looking to the sky, his hands outstretched, a microphone in his right." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/499811/original/file-20221208-14434-p3m533.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/499811/original/file-20221208-14434-p3m533.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/499811/original/file-20221208-14434-p3m533.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/499811/original/file-20221208-14434-p3m533.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/499811/original/file-20221208-14434-p3m533.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/499811/original/file-20221208-14434-p3m533.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/499811/original/file-20221208-14434-p3m533.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<span class="caption">Stormzy looks to the skies as he performs in Amsterdam in February 2022.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/22-february-2020-afas-live-amsterdam-1653336106">Ben Houdijk</a></span>
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<p>The UK is firmly in an era of <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2021/mar/28/the-guardian-view-on-post-christian-britain-a-spiritual-enigma">post-Christianity</a> where belief in God is no longer a default. Instead, multiple avenues for belief are available. Stormzy’s album offers an opportunity (without being preached at by a specific church or religious organisation) to consider an alternative to the disenchanted worldview.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/196251/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Matthew A. Williams does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Stormzy’s new album contains some deeply personal reflections on faith.Matthew A. Williams, Lecturer in Music, University of YorkLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1300682020-01-17T13:20:58Z2020-01-17T13:20:58ZStormzy and Gary Neville: how privilege works in 21st-century Britain<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/310640/original/file-20200117-118319-1xddg96.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=1%2C0%2C748%2C418&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Whose voice is more valid on racism: Stormzy, left, or Gary Neville?</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source"> Ben Houdijk and katatonia82 via Shutterstock</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Actor Laurence Fox, scion of one of the most influential acting families in the UK, is the object of widespread criticism after his recent appearance on Question Time. Contributing to a panel discussion on the decision by the Duke and Duchess of Sussex to step back from the royal family, he insisted that the media’s treatment of Meghan Markle had not been racist and that there was no such thing as “white privilege” operating in Britain, Fox said:</p>
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<p>I can’t help what I am, I was born like this – it’s an immutable characteristic. So to call me a white privileged male is racist.</p>
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<p>If Fox wants to know a little more about how privilege works in the UK in the 21st century, he could learn from an episode late last year, which is an almost perfect illustration of the issue. On December 21 2019, Tottenham Hotspur’s match against Chelsea Football Club was marred by alleged racist abuse directed at Chelsea’s black German-born defender, Antonio Rudiger. In the post-match analysis, Sky Sports pundit Gary Neville – a former captain of Manchester United – <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/global/video/2019/dec/23/gary-neville-says-footballs-racism-problem-extends-to-uk-politics-video">gave his opinion</a>: “We have a racism problem in the Premier League [and] in England.”</p>
<p>His words were warmly greeted in the media. The Independent described his response to the events at White Hart Lane as a “passionate attack on the political leaders”. Sky Sports host David Jones <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2019/dec/23/sky-sports-host-apologises-for-shutting-down-racism-discussion-gary-neville">described Neville’s words</a> as part of “an important discussion on racism”.</p>
<p>Compare this with the reaction to Stormzy when the British-born black rapper was asked, in an <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/music/2019/dec/21/stormzy-uk-is-racist-and-boris-johnson-has-made-it-worse">interview with the Italian newspaper La Repubblica</a> the same week, whether the UK was still a racist country. His reply was that: “Definitely, 100% … there’s a lot racism in the country.” </p>
<p>Various media outlets such as the Sun, Sky News and ITV <a href="https://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/entry/stormzy-britain-racist_uk_5dffe9c7e4b0b2520d0cd1cc?ncid=other_twitter_cooo9wqtham&utm_campaign=share_twitter&fbclid=IwAR2c0ph_s5uuH1k2guBMBb3BQvcVMDVg2YnoqsyDG9OHMsmcwDlor-DshPA&guccounter=1&guce_referrer=aHR0cHM6Ly9sLmZhY2Vib29rLmNvbS8&guce_referrer_sig=AQAAAJMhDtGJJJZ6vosMcv7GcZrALh1Dtz0_01_smeNqliFE-InjnzeIICLFPPV42AWjXweVvrzABNsoTA0BZZ6L2xPEP0vE5uzIzN1zw2OGFEDiuTHBHmOd6O7YfIuxH3X1K6hOwBLYq8QX14-0MCkdwlMGtYAiEk4koUrBJY1iGAJo&guccounter=2">inaccurately reported</a> that Stormzy had said the UK was “100% racist”. It produced a deluge of negative reaction on social media where Stormzy was trolled by journalists, academics and the public.</p>
<p>Daily Telegraph columnist Allison Pearson tweeted:</p>
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<p>Paul Stott, an academic specialising in terrorism studies at SOAS, bemoaned:</p>
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<p>On Twitter, the hashtag <a href="https://twitter.com/search?q=%23StormzyIsAMassiveBellend&src=typed_query">#StormzyIsAMassiveBellend</a> trended, as people vented their disdain for the black artist, and especially at his wealth, which was used to argue his comments were an example of “biting the hand that feeds you”.</p>
<h2>Heroes and delinquents</h2>
<p>These very different responses tell us much about the intersections of race, class and masculinity when it comes to who is accepted as a legitimate voice in public political discourse. As a former player and a pundit, Neville embodies a romanticised northern, white working-class masculine identity, seen to value frugality over flamboyance, stoicism, grit and determination over flair, and brutal honesty over political correctness. </p>
<p>Neville’s no-nonsense playing style has transferred to a no-nonsense, honest brand of commentary and he feels free to comment on politics as well as sport. This led him to state that senior politicians, including prime minister, Boris Johnson, <a href="https://www.independent.co.uk/sport/football/premier-league/gary-neville-racism-sky-sports-tottenham-vs-chelsea-antonio-rudiger-racist-abuse-boris-johnson-a9257456.html">have encouraged an rise in racism</a> generally.</p>
<p>Stormzy – whose real name is Michael Owuo Jr – is Britain’s most high-profile and successful grime artist. His lyrics often draw on his own reality, growing up in urban London in 21st-century Britain. He symbolises an unsatisfied, talented and politically awake black, urban, working-class youth.</p>
<p>Neville is <a href="https://talksport.com/football/646939/sky-sports-david-jones-social-media-backlash-gary-neville-racism/">viewed as a legitimate authority</a> to speak a working-class truth to power – even on social and political issues which, in this case, fall outside of his direct experience.</p>
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<p>By contrast, for many people who we might describe as culturally conservative, Stormzy symbolises a longstanding anxiety about black immigrant communities and especially young black men, who <a href="https://orca.cf.ac.uk/28559/1/2113275.pdf">are perceived</a> as culturally deficient, hyperphysical, hypersexual, violent and ungrateful.</p>
<p>Britain has a long history of perceiving inner-urban black youth as social delinquents. As such, critics of the state and the highlighting of racial discrimination by black working-class voices are frequently dismissed as individuals who are displaying their failure to recognise that they are the beneficiaries of (white) British tolerance and benevolence, as seen in the tweets to Stormzy.</p>
<p>So the difference in public reaction is not about what the two men said (that racial inequality exists in Britain). It’s about who has legitimacy in criticising the state.</p>
<h2>Privilege</h2>
<p>Both Stormzy and Neville possess privilege. It is not that people of colour do not experience privilege or access to material wealth that some white Britons may not. But <a href="https://research.aston.ac.uk/files/941436/Poverty_ethnicity_and_place.pdf">seldom do people of colour have access</a> to the same socioeconomic, social, cultural and legal privileges and opportunities afforded to their white peers. </p>
<p>This is part of the pervasiveness of racial inequality in the UK. People of colour may be able to access all areas of life. In each area, however, they experience unique discriminations specific to their particular social, work or leisure environment. For example, as a black celebrity, Stormzy may enjoy more privileges than a white worker in the gig economy, but he does not experience the same privileges as his white celebrity peers, even if they originate from similarly working-class background.</p>
<p>Guyanese-born professor of creative writing Tessa McWatt offered a <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/books/2019/dec/23/shame-on-me-tessa-mcwatt-review">useful summary of privilege</a> when she wrote: </p>
<blockquote>
<p>If you’ve never had a moment in your life where you realise your skin colour alone makes other people hate you, you have white privilege. </p>
</blockquote>
<p>I would add to this that privilege extends to who listens, and who is “allowed” to have a voice. Neville’s race and class background allows him to discuss race and racism in the UK, including outside his specialist area of football** by bringing in the influence politicians have had on racism. But it is exactly Stormzy’s race and class background that appears to disqualify him from contributing to the debate in some people’s eyes.</p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/why-you-dont-see-many-black-and-ethnic-minority-faces-in-cultural-spaces-and-what-happens-if-you-call-out-the-system-128792">Why you don't see many black and ethnic minority faces in cultural spaces – and what happens if you call out the system</a>
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<p>Neville’s contribution was much needed and rightly welcomed. But it appears that just being able to draw attention to the existence of racial inequality in the UK (a rather non-controversial point), is in fact another example of the <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2018/dec/02/revealed-the-stark-evidence-of-everyday-racial-bias-in-britain">racial inequalities</a> that exist in Britain between its white and Black Asian and minority ethnic citizens.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/130068/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Paul Ian Campbell does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Two men talking about racism in Britain: one is black, the other white. Guess who was targeted for abuse?Paul Ian Campbell, Lecturer in Sociology (Race, Ethnicity and Leisure), University of LeicesterLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1197572019-07-03T07:36:34Z2019-07-03T07:36:34ZGlastonbury 2019: Stormzy and Attenborough a barometer for a generation’s urgent concerns<p>There’s little doubt that <a href="https://theconversation.com/uk/topics/glastonbury-11219">Glastonbury</a> is one of the UK’s – perhaps the world’s – most iconic music festivals. It always generates headlines and while the vagaries of the British seasons often mean that many of these focus on the weather, Glastonbury’s centrality to the live music calendar means that it also acts as a faultline for broader tensions in popular music culture. In particular, it embodies the collision of popular music and politics.</p>
<p>Emerging from the “free festival” movement of the 1960s, Glastonbury began in its current form in the 1970s – first as the Pilton Festival organised by Michael Eavis of Worthy Farm and then, in 1971, as the Glastonbury Fayre. That event was co-promoted with Andrew Kerr and Arabella Churchill – granddaughter of Winston – as a free “<a href="https://books.google.com.au/books?id=erMoi-fp-RYC&printsec=frontcover#v=onepage&q&f=false">fair in the medieval tradition</a>, embodying the legends of the area, with music, dance, poetry, theatre, lights and opportunities for spontaneous entertainments”. </p>
<p>After a hiatus, it reemerged under the supervision of Eavis as an impromptu stopover on the way to Stonehenge in 1978 and a charity event in 1979, after which it has run almost continually, with occasional “fallow years” to let the fields recover.</p>
<h2>Counterculture to mainstream</h2>
<p>Despite growing into an infrastructural behemoth attracting more than 200,000 people – even at £250 for a full weekend ticket – and broadcast live by the BBC as a mainstay of an <a href="http://livemusicexchange.org/blog/risky-business-the-volatility-and-failure-of-outdoor-music-festivals-in-the-uk-chris-anderton/">otherwise volatile festival market</a>, it has managed to retain a sense of countercultural appeal. If this appears somewhat contradictory, then that is partly because of longstanding paradoxes in rock and popular music culture.</p>
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<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/282272/original/file-20190702-126340-cek16k.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/282272/original/file-20190702-126340-cek16k.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=360&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/282272/original/file-20190702-126340-cek16k.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=360&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/282272/original/file-20190702-126340-cek16k.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=360&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/282272/original/file-20190702-126340-cek16k.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=452&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/282272/original/file-20190702-126340-cek16k.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=452&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/282272/original/file-20190702-126340-cek16k.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=452&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<span class="caption">Hippie heaven: Pilton Festival at Worthy Farm, Glastonbury, 1970.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/brizzlebornandbred/35604023262">Paul Townsend via Flickr</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/">CC BY-SA</a></span>
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<p>With its status as an expensive site of mainstream consumption – and simultaneously an emblem of escapism from the everyday – Glastonbury’s politics are both implicit and explicit. The genre politics of popular music authenticity have been played out in debates about headline acts – remember when it was announced that rapper Jay-Z was to headline the festival in 2008. “<a href="http://drownedinsound.com/news/3162787">I’m not having hip-hop at Glastonbury. It’s wrong</a>,” complained Noel Gallagher, an objection that was largely (and wisely) ignored. </p>
<p>Shifting genre categories and consumption patterns in the age of streaming have diluted rock’s standing as the central sound of resistance and, by 2011, Beyoncé’s set <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/music/2011/jun/27/beyonce-glastonbury-2011-review">passed without controversy</a>.</p>
<p>The broader relationship of Glastonbury to British live music is debatable. On the one hand, it’s a huge showcase of talent. On the other, there’s a massive <a href="https://www.facebook.com/musicvenuetrust/posts/congratulations-if-you-got-a-glastonbury-festival-official-ticket-we-are-very-ha/980101778863876/">opportunity cost</a> in terms of attention for the smaller venues and festivals that are the foundation of local music scenes. </p>
<p>But if it isn’t as explicitly about “<a href="https://www.somersetlive.co.uk/whats-on/music-nightlife/glastonbury-festival-statistics-reveal-average-1952547">youth culture</a>” as some might assume, Glastonbury’s prominence also makes it a bellwether for broader political concerns, through both guest appearances and the surrounding political context. </p>
<h2>Mixing the messages</h2>
<p>In 2017, Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn, riding high on a better than expected general election result, was cheered on by the signature tune of the White Stripes song Seven Nation Army <a href="https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/music/news/glastonbury-2017-radiohead-jeremy-corbyn-song-crowd-useless-politicians-thom-yorke-a7808506.html">recycled as a crowd chant</a>: “Oh, Jeremy Corbyn.” </p>
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<p>But <a href="https://oupacademic.tumblr.com/post/66321507640/misquotation-a-week-is-a-long-time-in">a week is a long time in politics</a> – never mind two years. Corbyn’s ambivalence over Brexit – and failure to recreate his triumph at the <a href="https://theconversation.com/labour-live-why-even-jeremy-corbyn-struggles-to-sell-a-pop-and-politics-mashup-98496">2018 Labour Live festival</a> – illustrate some of the practical complications of politicians mixing pop into their operations.</p>
<p>Indeed, <a href="https://www.independent.ie/au/world-news/and-finally/antibrexit-campaigners-take-aim-at-johnson-with-glastonbury-billboard-38256808.html">qualms about Brexit</a> were a perhaps unsurprising backdrop to the musical festivities in 2019. But <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/music/2019/jun/29/stormzy-historic-glastonbury-performance">Stormzy’s lambasting</a> of would-be prime minister Boris Johnson – and his highlighting of the inequalities in the criminal justice system – showed that both the music, and the festival itself, are as politically potent as ever.</p>
<p>Another keynote of this year’s festival, as in the news and on the streets at large, was climate change. So the signature non-musical speaker this year was <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ru5JYf7X5Ck">David Attenborough addressing climate change</a>, while both the <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-somerset-48793814">Extinction Rebellion protesters</a> and the festival’s <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/music/2019/jun/30/greenest-glastonbury-david-attenborough-climate-crisis-plastic">own attempts</a> at more sustainable practice chimed with that theme.</p>
<p>This, of course, is a challenge that applies far beyond a single music festival. Another one is the problem of sexism in the music industry and Emily Eavis – who inherited the stewardship of Glastonbury from her 83-year-old father – has noted the difficulties she faces <a href="https://metro.co.uk/2019/06/24/glastonbury-organiser-emily-eavis-admits-men-music-industry-refuse-deal-10040654/">in getting some men to acknowledge</a> that she is now in charge of booking the main stages.</p>
<h2>A broad church</h2>
<p>From its <a href="https://www.glastonburyfestivals.co.uk/areas/left-field/">Leftfield</a> speakers’ tent to the unabashed pop presence of Kylie Minogue on the main stage, Glastonbury’s sheer scope allows it to straddle the nitty-gritty of current affairs and the peaks of popular music’s ability to throw a party. </p>
<p>That scope also means that one of its functions is as a prism through which to view the larger political, as well as the popular cultural, picture. The oppositions between art and commerce, anti-establishment politics and mass culture, and the grassroots and mainstream have long been a feature of popular music. Glastonbury’s sometimes uneasy journey from resistant counterculture to media-friendly centrepiece of British musical culture suggests they’re unlikely to be resolved any time soon. </p>
<p>But the longstanding affection in which it is held, and its consequent capacity to pinpoint the urgency of matters such as climate change or inequality, suggest that perhaps they don’t need to be.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/119757/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Adam Behr has received funding from the Arts and Humanities Research Council</span></em></p>From the hippie heaven of the 1970s to the massive mainstream event it is now, Glastonbury has always found a way to fuse popular culture with a potent political message.Adam Behr, Lecturer in Popular and Contemporary Music, Newcastle UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/923692018-02-24T09:27:47Z2018-02-24T09:27:47ZGrime artists cannot be ignored – and it will mean a seismic shift in public discourse<p>At the Brit Awards grime artist Stormzy won both best British male and best British album. But it was his acutely insurgent performance at the close of the live ITV broadcast that really got people talking.</p>
<p>Amid the usual glitz, glamour and perfect lifestyles portrayed at such events, Stormzy delivered a <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/music/2018/feb/21/stormzy-asks-may-wheres-the-money-for-grenfell-at-brit-awards">powerful and passionate verse</a> that built up to a direct challenge to Theresa May:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>Yo Theresa May, where’s the money for Grenfell?<br>
What, you thought we just forgot about Grenfell?<br>
You criminals and you’ve got the cheek to call us savages<br>
You should do some jail time, you should pay some damages</p>
</blockquote>
<p>This is not the first time Stormzy has exploited a media platform to state his position on the <a href="https://theconversation.com/uk/topics/grenfell-tower-39675">Grenfell disaster</a>, which claimed the lives of 71 people in June 2017. At Glastonbury festival last summer he criticised the May government’s response to the tragedy, while he also featured on the Grenfell charity single.</p>
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<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/207664/original/file-20180223-108139-umyjxh.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/207664/original/file-20180223-108139-umyjxh.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/207664/original/file-20180223-108139-umyjxh.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=459&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/207664/original/file-20180223-108139-umyjxh.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=459&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/207664/original/file-20180223-108139-umyjxh.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=459&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/207664/original/file-20180223-108139-umyjxh.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=577&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/207664/original/file-20180223-108139-umyjxh.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=577&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/207664/original/file-20180223-108139-umyjxh.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=577&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
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<span class="caption">Stormzy takes on the Met.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://twitter.com/stormzy1/status/899959361572921344?lang=en">Twitter</a></span>
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<p>Grime music provides a means for the younger black generation to deliver first-hand experiences and express their anger toward the disparity of social and political structures. The MCs of grime have developed a strong vocal position and style of their own over the past 15 years. </p>
<p>Since the early noughties, the genre has matured into the UK’s principal expression of rap culture, but its cultural roots are firmly anchored in the urban sounds of British hip hop pioneers prolific at the turn of the 1990s. Artists such as London Posse, Katch 22, and MC Mell‘O’ embraced their own accents and vernacular, and developed the first true sounds of UK hip hop coupled with a strong socio-political agenda. </p>
<p>These artists drew upon African and African-Caribbean heritage and the context of living in Britain, sonically inspired by reggae sound systems and the power of American hip hop. Tracks including London Posse’s Live Like the Other Half Do, Katch 22’s Final Judgement, and Subtraction by MC Mell’O’ carried messages of awareness about one’s cultural history and identity, and the blatant racism and police harassment regularly suffered by black British people. </p>
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<blockquote>
<p>Another day of racist police brutality<br>
And this reality is changed my personality</p>
</blockquote>
<p>This voice of revolutionary UK hip hop may have remained too underground and marginal to permeate mainstream media and have much impact on broader society, but it has had a lasting influence on the grime MCs of today.</p>
<h2>MCs control their own message</h2>
<p>Grime is immediate – and it is its closeness to its audience that supports the dissemination of the new voices of working-class black culture. An artist’s output can be delivered, captured and presented within minutes to an almost limitless audience – and established artists such as Skepta, Wiley and Fekky draw literally millions of YouTube views and Soundcloud hits. </p>
<p>By embracing the speed and impact of social media, music production and everyday sonic technologies, grime MCs take a lead <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/music/2013/aug/19/stand-up-tall-dizzee-rascal-grime-extract">from Afrofuturist thought</a> to frame their position within the socio-political context of present-day Britain.</p>
<p>The big grime artists are paving the way for more MCs to convey their own message, often anchored in the veracity of working-class life. The fluid delivery of <a href="https://pitchfork.com/reviews/tracks/octavian-party-here/">Octavian</a>, and emerging “<a href="http://www.dazeddigital.com/music/article/35706/1/uk-drill-artists-and-crews">UK drill</a>” stars such as K-Trap and Zone 2, extend much of the vexations expressed by their predecessors, and are also gaining huge hits online. </p>
<p>It is here these new voices have subverted the tradition of media representation. Grime extends past the metropolis – and MCs in the north such as Afghan Dan epitomise the working-class nature of this genre. During a Noisey YouTube special on <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AXFQsnbN0NQ">Blackpool’s grime scene</a>, and on the question of broader talent in the town, Afghan Dan replies: “That’s survival. That’s what you see there. You know, families are devastated by drugs and drink. That’s what happens.” With more than 5m views, the video shows the messages of the marginal can no longer be ignored by mainstream. </p>
<p>Through its success as a music and its modes of delivery, the narratives carried by grime artists are bringing the issues directly to a much broader audience. In turn, this is contributing to a seismic shift in public discourse, illustrated by the <a href="http://www.capitalxtra.com/artists/stormzy/news/brit-awards-performance-reaction/">positive reaction</a> to Stormzy’s Grenfell comments.</p>
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<p>This is no longer about how grime artists might be heard by the British media – we’re past that point. Now it is about how artists, society and the media ensure that the arrival of these new voices is maintained and developed to make real social and political change.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/92369/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Adam de Paor-Evans does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Stormzy and other grime artists are speaking up, and their messages can no longer be ignored by mainstream.Adam de Paor-Evans, Principal Lecturer in Cultural Theory / Research and Innovation Lead, School of Art, Design and Fashion, Faculty of Culture and the Creative Industries, University of Central LancashireLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.