Stormzy doesn’t understand why there is an "elite force in British music".
The ‘Big Up Your Boots’ hitmaker has opened up about how black musicians are treated in the industry and how having his songs in the UK charts is breaking "the walls down" for grime and rap stars, who have struggled to get their songs on the radio in the past.
Speaking to the latest issue of The FADER magazine for their Diaspora Issue, he admitted: "I’ve never understood this whole thing of there being this elite force in British music, but on the side is grime and rap. There’s at least five or six artists in that elite of American music. Beyoncé and Taylor Swift, Kanye West and Jay Z will be there. In this country, it’s not like that. I just question s***. I ask, Why can’t I get played on that radio station? ‘Oh, they can only play it in the evening.’ But there’s a clean version, why can’t they do daytime? They might say something about the tempo of the song, or the feel of the song. So when I’m getting in the charts, it’s [so I can] break all the walls down, and say, ‘OK, what are you gonna say now? Why can’t you play me?’"
The 23-year-old rapper is determined to be the voice of this generation of black celebrities as he admits there aren’t enough of them, and he is not afraid to call out anyone who is treating others badly because of their race.
He explained: "A lot of places, I may be one of the few minorities in the building, or on the panel, or on the stage. I’m gonna be facing a lot more of these situations. In this country, there are not enough black actors or musicians. So when someone gets there, you’ve got to be the voice that calls out the bull***."
Stormzy doesn’t get the ‘elite force in British music’
