Don’t know if you’ve heard but the UK’s starting to feel like a complete mess where the class divide is growing daily, immigrants are being set up as enemies of the state in the right-wing press and tensions between the left and right more generally are almost at boiling point! Pass it on! In her infinite wisdom, Prime Minister Theresa May has decided to make matters worse by calling a snap general election on 8 June, which means we’re in for a good month of Andrew Marr, door-knocking, journalists rowing on Twitter, and Conservative politicians terrifying children in campaign photos. Great Britain, baby!
For young people, the election cycle feels more familiar, tired and predictably depressing than ever: for the last two summers it has dominated the news (the 2015 general election was followed, lest we forget, by 2016’s devastating Brexit referendum), and to be honest, as much as we’d like affordable housing and a fair deal with regards to university tuition, I reckon most of us also just want Westminster to give it a rest so we can have one summer getting wankered in the park without having the fact that the current government seems hellbent on wrecking, you know, our entire futures looming over us.
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That’s why it’s excellent news that some new voices – namely a few big-name grime MCs – have entered the fray to come out for the politician who is largely seen as both your bumbling grandad in a blazer talking about nuclear energy and the champion of youth in the UK: step up, MP for Islington North and Leader of the Labour Party, Jeremy Corbyn. Over the weekend, JME endorsed Corbyn and encouraged his fans to register to vote, and big Jez later thanked him for the ringing recommendation:
Tru luv.
But JME’s not the only member of the grime and UK rap community to endorse Corbyn – over the last few days, Novelist (who listed Corbyn’s longstanding reputation for being on the right side of history, his anti-nuclear stance and his pro-women agenda as positives in a Twitter thread), AJ Tracey and Akala have all publicly stated their support for the Labour leader. As much as anything else, grime artists using their platforms to talk about politics can only be a good thing as far as improving youth turnout at June’s election goes. Their particular endorsement of Corbyn, who proposes a fairer deal for young people though is often derided for being an idealist, makes sense – like them, Corbyn looks to represent a ‘voice of the people’ persona.
Grime from its very beginnings has been a social force, and now that some of its biggest names have national platforms, it feels a lot like they could make a real difference – even if that is just in the shape of galvanising those who wouldn’t usually take an interest in politics and making young people a point of influence rather than the Tories’ doormat.
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(Image via Wikimedia Commons)
