Shaun Bailey angered a London audience last night by claiming that hip hop is to blame for the killing of black youths in London
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Shaun Bailey, Cameron’s infamous adviser on youth and ‘ambassador’ to the Big Society, angered a London audience last night by claiming that hip hop is to blame for the killing of black youths in London.
Bailey was on the panel at a ‘Hip Hop on Trial: Hip Hop doesn’t enhance society, it degrades it’ debate at the London Barbican, seated alongside heroic civil rights activist Jesse Jackson, American rapper KRS-One and Egyptian ‘Arab Spring’ rapper Deeb, among others.
Google provided video links to musicians Questlove, Q-Tip and Estelle, rap outfit Slaughterhouse and political satirist P. J. O’Rourke to join in the debate.
To a ripple of boos from the audience, Bailey said:
“Hip Hop ain’t got nothing good to say to you. Twenty-seven black boys were killed in London last year by other black boys… Hip Hop sings about filling people with bullets and that’s what hip hop has done to us.
“If black people talk about killing black people, then what’s stopping other people from doing it?”
Jemima Khan, who was linked to the room via video and monitoring questions on the web, read out a tweet in response from @SofiaE3 that said:
“Hiphop does not create social conditions, why not attack the social conditions rather than the art that expresses them?”
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Bailey is no stranger to the headlines, as Left Foot Forward reported last year on questions surrounding £16,000 missing from the charity that Bailey managed. The charity, MyGeneration, was later forced to close due to ‘lack of funds’ – an ironic sign that the Big Society that Bailey championed so much was failing his own projects.
A vote taken at the end of the Hip Hop on Trial event showed the majority of audience members did not share Bailey’s views. Seventy per cent of attendees voted against the motion (‘Hip Hop doesn’t enhance society’), with 24% for and 6% still didn’t know.
17 Responses to “Tory youth adviser blames hip hop music for the killing of black youths in London”
Shimul MotionPlanet
http://t.co/v7bV1vC8 Tory youth adviser blames hip hop music for the killing of black …: … http://t.co/PFVuXPQi http://t.co/v7bV1vC8
Online_Beat_MakerPro
Tory youth adviser blames hip hop music for the killing of black … http://t.co/7JGm4j8Y #hiphop #rap
Tim H
from Bristol Zoo, to B&Q …
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aJ83KXUloP8
beezwax
hip hop doesnt have to be angry! thats normally left for rap. I would say hiphop is a celebration of life,
Tony Taylor
Tory youth adviser blames hip hop music for the killing of black youths in London – http://t.co/zJdqDGl6