Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn received the backing of dozens of Grime and Hip Hop artists in the recent UK elections. London-based rapper Awate met with Saskilla, Novar FLIP, Big Ben, Lady Shocker and more just weeks after the election, to ask their reasons for getting involved in mainstream politics this time round.
Award winning artist Mike Kalle joins the Flip Life Radio team to talk about how we can combat gentrification, Grenfell Tower, Latin Hip-Hop in the UK and his new album ‘Sudaka’.
Novar FLIP recently featured on the Renagde Inc show to talk about the concept of Carpe Diem Politics and engaging young people in the political system, with philosopher and writer Roman Krznaric.
In this extract from the forthcoming ‘Carpe Diem Politics’ episode of Renegade Inc, Novar FLIP discusses how social media has become a powerful means of getting young people engaged with politics.
The week’s Flip Life Radio show was called ‘People power: How can we make a difference?’. With special guest Saskilla we asked; How can we make difference in our communities in light of recent tragedies. We also discussed if Grime is Hip-Hop and other topics, with music from Danny Bones, Big Narstie, Squeekz, Jay Z, Britizen Kane, Shola Ama, CASisDEAD, Jehst, Dizzee Rascal and more.
UK rapper and activist Lowkey had spoken on the Grenfell Tower fire, stating that, “We should really look at people going to prison for this, because this is criminal”. He speaks about personal friends effected by the incident, including one who is missing and thought to of not survived. Our prayers go out to him and all who have been effected by this horrific tragedy. He states in the above clip, “This has to be the death knell of the Theresa May government. Neoliberalism is discredited, austerity is discredited, it doesn’t have to be this way and it is a matter of life or death”.
Below Lowkey can also be seen speaking with survivor and personal friend Cristos. In this interview they share their traumatic experience of what happened with the Grenfell Tower disaster.
UK rapper Peaky has spoken about the Grenfell Tower fire in a second interview since his passionate appearance on BBC News that went viral days ago. He expanded on the situation stating, “There needs to be more of a care for human life than money right now”. He revealed, “They put flammable panels onto the side of the building” and stood his ground when interrupted on this point. He importantly demanded, “The tenant management organisation in Kensington & Chelsea, they need to be investigated”.
Akala has visited Grenfell Tower in West London and he had some really important things to say. In the above video clip from Channel 4 he states, “This happened to them because they are poor”. He then goes on to explain, “There is no way that rich people live in a building without adequate fire safety”. In the below clip taken from a facebook live recording he also goes in to much more detail saying, “This is mass manslaughter by negligence” and going on to insist, “There are some very powerful people who are culpable for this, who don’t think they’re going to have to pay, but as far as I’m concerned, not only do people need to be payed out compensation, people need to go to prison”. Salute to Akala for continuing to be a voice of the people and speaking out on the systematic corruption we are up against in our communities.
This week on the Flip Life Radio show, Novar FLIP & Big Ben take phone calls to discuss The UK General Election with Sean Dean, Tone, Sofia (Grime 4 Corbyn), Genesis Elijah, Chester P, Josh Cole (Rise Up UK) & Danny Bones.
Novar FLIP presents his Donny Bravo produced musical contribution to the Rize Up campaign that he also helped to set up. The campaign has been engaging young people in politics and the UK general election 2017, with support from Tinie Tempah, Professor Green, Riz Ahmed, Akala, Maverick Sabre, Emeli Sande, Lily Allen, Doc Brown, Brian May, UB40 and many more.