These sleazy rappers are out of control
isn’t it time for rappers to get a rap on the naughty knuckles? At the NME Awards this week, British rapper slowthai threw a champagne glass into the crowd, then jumped off stage in an attempt to brawl with someone who had annoyed him.
Earlier, he had made lewd comments to comedienne and awards show host Katherine Ryan, while clasping her in an unwanted embrace.
Repeatedly referring to her as ‘baby girl’ he invited her to ‘smell my cologne’ and said ‘she wants me to tend to her flowers’.
Excruciating. the 25-year-old — real name tyron Frampton — apologised later by tweet and Ryan accepted his apology. she didn’t feel uncomfortable, she said, and that was why we need ‘women in power’. Eh? Few men in public life would get away with such bad behaviour. Can you imagine if the perving perpetrator had been someone from the Bullingdon Club or nigel Farage or Eamonn Holmes or similar? they’d be in jail by now, career over.
Slowthai was there to accept the Hero Of the Year award, following a vote by NME readers.
He won because he released an album called nothing Great About Britain, once held up a fake severed head of Boris Johnson and also repeatedly screamed ‘F*** Boris’ at another televised awards ceremony.
Do you know what? i think they all deserve each other.
in addition there is grime rapper stormzy — a Prince Harry favourite — with his equally idiotic political pronouncements. in America, rapper snoop Dogg had to apologise to Gayle King after he told her to ‘back off b*** h’ when she questioned an incident in Kobe Bryant’s past. (the basketball player who was killed in a helicopter crash was once accused of rape, but the woman involved agreed a financial settlement.)
not all rappers are badly behaved or espouse violence. However, in the U.s. there is a view that a wave of powerful rap is inciting violence in fans.
in one study — which should have been subtitled the Bleedin’ Obvious Report — academics at the Prevention Research Centre in California suggested young people who listened to aggressive rap and hip-hop were more likely to abuse alcohol and commit violent acts.
You don’t say. What is most difficult to understand is why rappers like slowthai are permitted to behave on stage in a way that would not be tolerated on the streets.