The Brits: Dave.

It doesn't make me feel proud considering that we " English " instigated slavery.

He's a good pianist. Rap is just speaking words, and I find it really boring.

There was no mention of Lord Mansfield in the song---he who abolished slavery in the 16th century ?

We still have slavery in this " England " with the trafficking that continues from European countries and beyond.

SalsaQueen, rap is a form of poetry. Is poetry just speaking words? Byron, Heaney? Very dismissive.

Very talented. No profanity. No sexism. Just calling out racism.

Unless you've got a rapping lingo it doesn't work. Could you imagine Stephen Fry rapping ?

I loved the Brits last night and yes I too thought Dave was brilliant. Lyrics provided real food for thought and the accompanying music was fabulous.
Lewis Capaldi (big fan) was just soo funny. We Look forward to it each year and watch it as a family

We did not instigate slavery; every nation has used slavery since time immemorial.
We did. however, play a part in attempting to end it.

Hahaha! You know, I imagine he could make it work. He is a great wordsmith. I've read several of his books.

GagaJo My opinion - so what?

If you dismiss Britain's part in the slave trade, you are in denial. We played a part. We hold responsibility.

Fair enough. White culture good, black culture bad. Is that it?

An absolute talent.
Had goosebumps whilst watching him last night.
We should all listen & learn.

Brought tears to my eyes Aggs. Particularly ending on Grenfell.

I imagine the mother of Sofyen Belamouadden thought differently about it all

But at least this year he didn't pay tribute to his brother when getting his award

But I do agree that he's talented

Let's not go overboard though

An honest comment Oopsminty. It genuinely did. As it did with the friend who sent it to me. Last time I cried at a performance, it was Shakespeare. Room for all.

'Very talented. No profanity. No sexism. Just calling out racism.'
----

Has anybody listened to the lyrics in his songs?

No, to be honest. Not other than the one at the Brits. BUT that was very good and had none of the above.

My deputy headteacher friend HAS recommended his album though, so I will give it a listen. IF it is clean and links to political activism, I will use it as a support to the Blake poetry and the Shakespeare text I'm currently teaching. Obviously that isn't possible if it if has profanity/sexism in it.

We watched it with subtitles on then re read as it all became a bit fast at the end. Powerful stuff. I too think its poetry

The lyrics, in full..............

“Look, black is beautiful, black is excellent. Black is pain, black is joy, black is evident. It’s workin’ twice as hard as the people you know you’re better than. ‘Cause you need to do double what they do so you can level them. Black is so much deeper than just African-American. Our heritage been severed, you never got to experiment. With family trees, ’cause they teach you ’bout famine and greed. And show you pictures of our fam on their knees. Tell us we used to be barbaric, we had actual queens. Black is watchin’ child soldiers gettin’ killed by other children. Feelin’ sick, like, ‘Oh shit, this could have happened to me’. Your mummy watchin’ tellin’ stories ’bout your dad and your niece. Listen, the blacker the berry the sweeter the juice. A kid dies, the blacker the killer, the sweeter the news. And if he’s white you give him a chance, he’s ill and confused. If he’s black he’s probably armed, you see him and shoot.

“Look, black is growin’ up around the barbershop. Mummy sayin’, ‘Stay away from trouble, you’re in yard a lot’. Studying for ages, appreciatin’ the chance you got. ‘Cause black is in your blood, and you ain’t even got the heart to stop. Black is steppin’ in for your brothers because your father’s gone. And standin’ by your children when you haven’t proven karma wrong. Black is doin’ all of the above then goin’ corner shoppin’. Tryna help a lady cross the road to have her walkin’ off. Black is growin’ up around your family and makin’ it. Then being forced to leave the place you love because there’s hate in it. People say you faking it, never stayed to change the shit. But black is bein’ jealous, you’d be dead if you had stayed in it. Black is strugglin’ to find your history or trace the shit. You don’t know the truth about your race ’cause they erasin’ it. Black has got a sour flavour, here’s a taste of it. But black is all I know, there ain’t a thing that I would change in it.

“Look, black ain’t just a single colour, man there’s shades to it. Her hair’s straight and thick but mine’s got waves in it. Black is not divisive, they been lyin’ and I hate the shit. Black has never been a competition, we don’t make this shit. Black is deadly. Black is when you’re freezin’ in your home and you can’t get sleep but never feelin’ empty. ‘Cause you got 20 cousins in your country living stress-free. Walkin’ for their water, daughter wrapped inside a bed sheet. Black is distant, it’s representin’ countries that never even existed while your grandmother was livin’.

“Black is my Ghanaian brother readin’ into scriptures. Doin’ research on his lineage, findin’ out that he’s Egyptian. Black is people namin’ your countries on what they trade most – Coast of Ivory, Gold Coast, and the Grain Coast. But most importantly to show how deep all this pain goes, West Africa, Benin, they called it slave coast.

“Black is so confusin’, ’cause the culture? They’re in love with it. They take our features when they want and have their fun with it. Never seem to help with all the things we know would come with it. Loud in our laughter, silent in our sufferin’. Black is bein’ strong inside and facing defeat. Poverty made me a beast, I battled the law in the streets. We all struggled, but your struggle ain’t a struggle like me. Well how could it be when your people gave us the odds that we beat?. I mean, bloody hell, what about our brothers that are stuck in jail? That couldn’t bust a bell, they held a bird and gotta live with it. Black is bein’ guilty until proven that you’re innocent. Black is sayin’, ‘Free my people stuck inside in prison cells’. They think it’s funny, we ain’t got nothin’ to say to them. Unconditional love is strange to them; it’s amazin’ ’em. Black is like the sweetest fuckin’ flavour, here’s a taste of it.
But black is all I know, there ain’t a thing that I would change in it.”

Dave The BRITs, Dave, Brit Awards, 2020, watch, black, performance, full, video, lyrics, BRITs 2020, show, last night,

And here’s that incredible extra verse:
After the performance of the song, he went on to perform a powerful freestyle verse where he said: “It is racist whether or not it feels racist. The truth is our Prime Minister’s a real racist. They say, ‘you should be grateful we’re the least racist’, I say the least racist is still racist. And if somebody hasn’t said it, equality’s a right, it doesn’t deserve credit. Now if you don’t wanna care then you’re never gonna care. How the news treats Kate versus how they treat Meghan.

“Rest in peace Jack Merritt you’re my brother in arms there’s tears in our eyes and love in our hearts – we never had the same background, culture, colour or past but you devoted your life to giving others a chance. And for that, I’m so taken aback. Because he gave us all a voice, I have to say it for Jack as a young black man to see in paper and crack. Real sentences it’s just paper and cracks. All he would want is unity, funding for communities, equal opportunities, people under scrutiny, no more immunity, way less scrutiny, more conservation, less deforestation, we want rehabilitation. Now that would be amazing. But Grenfell victims still need accommodation and we still need support for the Windrush generation, reparations for the time our people spent on plantations. I’m done.”

Thanks SalsaQueen
Hope you copied and pasted that not keyed it all in ?
As I said before it was brilliant especially accompanied by the music and then he dropped the mike

Have you looked at other lyrics?

There was a rapper around in the very early 80's, Grandmaster Flash, that rapped about the realities of the streets in the US. This reminded me of that, although Dave performed live, from memory. Doubt GMF could have done that.

GagaJo

As a teacher would you think how ever/ whatever the context behind the message using words such as Hoe, F**k and N***g*a were used by anybody other than rappers /musical artistes they would be deemed as being sexist, racist and using profanity.?

Would say Boris Johnson to use those words he would get away with it.?

Sorry my sympathies and thoughts are with Naina Ghailan her son was stabbed 9 times by the gang Daves brother was ringleader of. The boy died and Daves brother is now serving a life sentence.