Slowthai has never been one to bite his tongue. The British rapper's newest album, Nothing Great About Britain, is an honest criticism of modern life in his home country, but his attacks against the establishment don’t end with music.
Slowthai brandished a decapitated effigy of the new prime minister, Boris Johnson’s, head during this week’s Mercury Prize ceremony. He had just finished performing “Doorman” off his new album when he yelled “Fuck Boris Johnson. Fuck everything,” while waving the head. The move resulted in an uproar of cheers and befuddlement by the event's hosts.
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Slowthai took to Twitter during and after the event to comment on the move. During the ceremony, he promoted a new line of “Fuck Borris” shirts that are on sale now. Later, he posted a long message reading, "Last night I held up a mirror to this country and some people don’t like the reflection. Yet this is exactly where we're being taken, cut off and at all costs. The people in power who are trying to isolate and divide us aren’t the ones who will feel its effects the hardest. They’re not the ones queuing at food banks, not the ones navigating Universal Credit and not the ones having to deal with systematic oppression and hate crimes at the hands of privileged politicians who say what they want without fear and consequence. We as a people are not being looked after and our best interests are not being served by those in government - this is their job and they're not doing it well enough. This ‘act’ was a metaphor for what this government is doing to our country, expect what I did was present it in plain sight.”
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He ended the post by adding, “No Boris Johnson’s were hurt in the making of this slowthai performance. I don’t condone violence in any form.”
