Thread by @Mr_Minchin

Please #edutwitter read below.

I ran a poll about Stormzy. Was partly a reaction to the two days worth of near constant trolling from @Miss_Snuffy

Katharine, we’ve never seen eye to eye, that doesn’t mean there are parts of your practice I don’t admire.

However...

(Just quickly before I comment on Grime, I realise I’m white and grew up around Dundee 😂 However, my two year Friday night residency playing hip hop, dancehall and afrojamz gives me a slight anecdotal insight into this debate that you lack imo (yes, the wee guy is me!))

The comparisons made between Stormzy and Drill are both lazy and wholly inaccurate. I assume you’ve never listened to Ink, Skengdo or Loski. You haven’t displayed any understanding of the difference between the artists and sadly it appears you don’t feel you need to.

Growing up in Croydon round gangs, surviving stabbings, expelled from school and dropping out of college: despite being just 26, single & rich, Stormzy has established a publishing company for black authors and an Oxbridge scholarship programme.

In contrast to your claims, Stormzy’s lyrics feature relatively little misogyny when compared to other rappers. In comparison to some mainstream ‘pop’ artists they’re not bad. Personally I’d rather have kids watch Stormzy at Glasto than the Pussycat Dolls comeback on X Factor.

Stormzy was called out for using homophobic language, dating back to 2011 when he was 17. He apologised, calling his language ‘unacceptable and disgusting. Full stop’

Whereas when our PM was asked about homophobic remarks...well

I note the Michaela music curriculum includes two songbooks: Don’t look back in anger by Oasis and Angels by Robbie Williams are listed. But the violence, drugs and sex associated with these artists don’t seem to concern you as much

Today you shared a clip of Michael Smiths TED talk. His message was that society is inherently racist and black lives matter - something Stormzy recently pointed out and was pilloried for, notably by ITV. I watched the whole thing, it was a very mixed message.

Stormzy threw his support behind Corbyn, called out May for Greenfell and obvs had 100,000 scream ‘f**k Boris’ at Glastonbury. I know you’re a vocal supporter of the Tories and hope this hasn’t been political point scoring.

We Scots have a reputation for being a bit sweary. You don’t get much more sweary and drug promoting than Billy Connolly and he was knighted two years ago. I do wonder if he was black and wore tracksuits how his life might have panned out.

To conclude: I’ve rarely seen eye to eye with you; that does not mean there aren’t things about your practice I admire. But on Stormzy, you’re wrong.

My advice: Go to a drill show, then a Stormzy show, THEN comment.

Do better.

Oh, and that poll