7 minute read
The UK and the Criminalization of the Artist
Words: Zwelake Chibumba
Photo via Twitter
Since it’s hay day, hip-hop and crime have been interlinked for so long now, it’s not surprising the connection is still brought up today. However, where in the past hip-hop artist’s relationship to crime was almost a pre-requisite for them to speak on such issues times have changed. The content unfortunately hasn’t. This has allowed a stereotype to be perpetuated about not only Hip-Hop but also hip-hop listeners, as well as the race predominantly credited with creating Hip-Hop - black people. The message that has only enhanced existing stereotypes that black people and in particular rappers, are violent criminals. Whilst other genres may incite violence or reference it such as heavy metal, it is only rap music and it’s fanbase that has continually glorified the culture of violence.
As Hip-Hop crossed over into the shores of the U.K this trend didn’t particularly stop. Although the U.K sound almost started out as a watered down version of the U.S import it developed into something unique. Due to the blend of cultures coming into contact - the sound systems of Jamaican immigrants, the fast and percussive house and jungle beats, and suddenly the prominence of rap led to a breeding ground for creativity. Out of those roots, several styles came about early jungle emcees then became garage emcees, grime eventually succeeded garage and development has continued since. Now the U.K can proudly say that it has multiple distinct genres that involve rapping: Grime, Drill, Afro Swing, and U.K Hip-Hop.
Whilst the development of these styles has been great it has not always been the healthiest of processes. Grime, Drill & U.K Hip-Hop have all at various times been accused of having negative effects on its listeners. The claim that is most often made is that the music leads to an increase in violence. Many rappers, including 67’s Scribz, have come out to say that their music is a reflection of their lives and realities. They say they’re not trying to glorify the life they portray in the tracks but often this seems very questionable. The content of the songs has not progressed that far from early Hip-Hop especially in Drill. Drill songs almost have a formula to them with equal parts talent through unique flows, lingo, instrumental selection, and unfortunately violence. This is not to put Drill on the spot as long before rappers were having their videos pulled up in court cases.
Tragically, we recently lost the life of an innocent and rising talent by the name of Harry Uzoka. At just 25 Years of age with a promising career in modelling ahead of him, having starred in campaigns for the likes of Zara and Mercedes, his life was cut short at the hands of a knife attack. His assailants were Jonathan Okigbo and George Koh. Whilst initially reported as being a robbery gone wrong it has now come to light that George Koh was also a model leading to speculation that there was more to it.
In the aftermath of the tragedy, social media was flooded first with messages of condolence and tribute. Then shortly after came the issue of knife crime and its solutions. At this point, you may be thinking what does any of this have to do with the U.K. and the criminalisation of its artists, others of you will know exactly what’s coming next.
Dave. Dave sometimes referred to as Santan Dave weighed in on the topic of knife crime and part of a solution. Social media did what social media does best and went to task with discrediting and criticising the young star. So much so that Dave has deleted his tweets on the matter. In his tweets, Dave made the point that he thought that if implemented properly, without a racial bias or abuses of police power that bringing stop and search checks back would be a useful deterrent in people carrying knives. He added that this was his ‘unpopular opinion’ in this same tweet. Amongst the people saying he was too young to speak on the issue, saying he’d never experienced it and general distasteful comments towards him were the rappers. Now rightfully he was pulled up for the fact that he has songs discussing handling weapons and threats to those against him, making the tweets seem hypocritical.
The surprising thing was the rapper who chose to pull him up on this, K Trap. The last person you would have expected to have spoken up on this would have been a drill rapper, especially considering the content of the vast majority of drill music.
Shortly following this drill rapper Reekz MB was sentenced to serve 16 years in jail following a string of attacks involving the same firearm. You may be asking yourself “is this any surprise?” Well yes, it should be. Although there is a prominence of violent content being present across a wide range of artists, even Dave has the lyrics:
Yet we wouldn’t expect Dave to be violent, would we? Well shortly after Dave tweeted his thoughts on knife crime a video surfaced of Dave supposedly getting stopped and searched by police. Now we don’t actually know what the stop was for or if it even was Dave but it was an interesting turn of events. This combination of things brought to mind the question ‘well what do the statistics actually say?’
Of course, there are no direct statistics looking at how music has affected rates of crimes so we have to look at things more generally.
In 2017 there was a sharp increase in violent attacks after June according to an Office for National Statistics (ONS) report. Some would see this statistic and likely try and make the connection between violent music and the incidences of violence. They could even centre in on knife crime, which is often the go to type of crime when looking at this topic. There was a 26% increase in the rate of knife attacks since the previous year reaching a total of 36,998 offences. With this case of evidence building, it would be no surprise that some may make the link between music and crime when such practices are so glorified.
But we don’t expect every rapper to go to jail. Nor do we expect all of their fans to be criminals. The reason for this is because we understand that rappers are for the most part performers first and foremost, with many making significant amounts of money from their craft. As such we take their work to be an expression of art, in the same way we would a Van Gogh painting. We appreciate art, use it for its positive elements, and most of us don’t imitate it. Of course, there are those select few that do - but these are the anomalies. What also helps this case is that there was a general rise in crime not just is violent crimes. Overall there was an overall 13% increase meaning the increase in violent crimes follows the trend of crime in general. We can’t blame rappers for the rise of other types of crime so why place blame on them for increases in violence?
Well, there are factors at play on each side, sometimes out of the rapper’s hands. For example, a rapper of any genre may not necessarily consider him or herself a role model but in the eyes of the public, they are. This means that some feel that artist’s words and actions should reflect this outside as well as in their music. Whilst this is understandable when there are people who do strike a balance in maintaining their grittiness without necessarily promoting the negative, like Wretch 32, the issue is not everyone can be Wretch.
What all of this leads to in the end however is a stereotype. Due to lack of diverse representation and the way people are fascinated by the negatives more than the positives, a picture of not only rappers but also their fans are formed. This negative stereotyping is what has led to past incidents like Scribz being given a ban from making music for 2 years, Giggs having been denied the ability to perform for years, and most famously the 696 form used to stop artists performing due to police intervention. What it also leads to is ignorant situations as in the case of Stormzy. Stormzy has become one of the most popular artists in the country over the past few years, gaining instant noticeability. Yet off the back of him winning a MOBO award, that was televised nationally, he was dealt a rude reality check. On February the 14th 2017 police knocked down the door to Stormzy’s home in West Brompton after a report was filed that there was a burglary-taking place.
It turns out a neighbour had thought Stormzy was breaking into the property when seeing him enter via the front door. Here Stormzy was unfortunately painted with the most negative of brushes and it is likely that his race and career played a role in the incident as at 6’5 he is easily recognisable even at a distance.
Now, this is a topic that is much broader than I could fit in the confines of a single article. But as some concluding thoughts let’s look at things in a big picture way. Hip-Hop, Grime, Drill and Afro swing are all doing incredibly well and creating careers for not just the artists but friends and family around them. This, in turn, removes these at risk people away from the negative sides of life and into a positive force for change. Yet it is during this transition that they face the full weight of not only the public but the police and media’s scrutiny. It is at these moments that our stars are torn down and made a spectacle of, almost as if to try to hinder their successes. Equally, however, there are some artists who do not seem to make the correct transition, as their music is not progressing beyond music, which could be labelled war cries and outright confessions of illegal activity. It is impossible to pinpoint which side is right and which side is wrong - and we shouldn’t be doing that anyway. No side is necessarily wrong, in terms of the artists, as every career is different and has its own path. As such we should celebrate the creativity but also take the negatives associated with some of that creativity with a healthy grain of salt and self-reflection. If rappers are the role models for our children, whom they are said to influence, that we want to hold seemingly to higher standards than anyone else, what does that say about us as a society?
Ghetts
Photo via Spliff TV
