WHILE the two Tory leadership contenders continue to insult our collective intelligence (recent low points include Jeremy Hunt’s cringeworthy Irn-Bru photo op and Boris Johnson’s arrogant claim that he spends his spare time building model buses out of wine crates), a far more uplifting and legitimate political statement was being made in a field in Somerset.
It was at Glastonbury that Michael Ebenazer Kwadjo Omari Owuo, a 25-year-old black man from south east London who goes by the name of Stormzy, gave his astonishing headline performance to a crowd of 135,000 and a television audience of millions.
Read more: Stormzy chanted back Boris and not the F-bomb at Glastonbury, Johnson claims
It would be wrong to suggest that the rapper, and the music scene he is at the forefront of, called grime (a UK fusion of electronic, hip-hop and dancehall), has not already made it to the mainstream. He’s had a succession of top 10 singles, a number one album and is reputed to be worth millions.
But, just when you thought Glastonbury had nothing new to show you in a slot that in recent years has been filled by the likes of the Rolling Stones, The Who, Coldplay, Mumford and Sons and Ed Sheeran, Stormzy, only the second black Briton to headline Glastonbury, embodied that all too rare thing in the cultural landscape: the zeitgeist. Dressed in a stab-vest daubed with a faded Union Flag, designed by graffiti artist Banksy, he proceeded to unleash a performance of authority, intensity and authenticity which touched on knife crime, racism and inequality of opportunity.
Just when you thought you had the measure of this set, it slammed on the brakes and turned 180 degrees, transforming into a ballet performed by a company of black dancers, highlighting the awful truth that only recently have they been able to buy ballet shoes that match their skin colour. It changed again, to a joyful summer party, then again to an on-stage church, compete with spine-tingling gospel choir, as the devout young musician praised God.
This had it all – aggression and anger, humour and wit, virtuosic rapping and soulful singing – and it was presented with an astounding level of intelligence and accessibility. It didn’t matter a jot whether you liked or knew grime music; even watching on television you felt the earth move. This was the moment black British culture flew to new heights.
Indeed, the way this young man held the Glastonbury audience, which nowadays consists mainly of white, middle-class former indie-kids in their 30s and 40s, in the palm of his hand, was a sight to behold, and a much-needed reminder in these divided times that people from different races, ages and backgrounds can still come together.
READ MORE: Kylie Minogue in tears on Glastonbury return
One of the highlights came when this self-made embodiment of modern Britain led the audience in a chorus of “f*ck Boris”, the man, lest we forget, who described black people as “piccaninnies” with “watermelon smiles”, and represents the privileged, insular arrogance that drives the toxic brand of Brexit that is dangerously engulfing parts of these islands.
I’m sure armchair viewers up and down the country found themselves joining in with the chant, only adding to the irony that many more people chanted F-Boris with a rapper on Friday night than will vote him in as Prime Minister.
There was predictable outrage in the right-wing press, feigned offence at the use of swear words against Johnson while the racist, sexist, homophobic language used by the former Mayor of London over many years has been either ignored, or even worse, excused. I don’t doubt many of Mr Johnson’s supporters would cross the street to avoid young men who look like Stormzy.
What’s also interesting about this sort of hypocrisy, of course, is that unlike Mr Johnson, Michael Omari, as he is known to his family, is a man of action as well as words. He not only talks and raps about his community and its challenges, but puts his money where his mouth is, creating a scholarship to fund black students through their studies at Cambridge and setting up his own book publisher, #Merky, part of Penguin, to give young people a voice in writing. He is also a prominent and active supporter of justice and compensation for the Grenfell Tower survivors.
And while Mr Johnson arrogantly denies or ignores past mistakes, Mr Omari has had the maturity and courage to admit and atone for his, including homophobic tweets posted at the age of 18. Put simply, Stormzy is already more of a role model than our future Prime Minister will ever be.
And by using his platform to change the conversation around young black men – as 130,000 adoring white, middle-class people standing in a field in Somerset will attest – he is contributing far more to society than music.
Stormzy’s headline performance will go down as one of the most spectacular and assured in Glastonbury’s 50-year history. But its political and cultural significance goes beyond this.
A 25-year-old from south London reminded us what passion, integrity and authenticity look like at a time when we’ve never needed these qualities more.
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