Stormzy AIBU

[MissChananderlerbong]

Prepared to be told I'm being old and boring.
I enjoyed Stormzy's set, he's obviously a progressive liberal guy, and he seems like a good human.
So why the sexist lyrics?
"Finish on her face to top it off (ay)"
"If her friend is a dead ting, take one for the bredren"
"2 peng tings at the entrance" (just feels wrong calling women 'things')
If he was just another artist then fine, but he seems so principled in so many other ways. So I find this odd.

am I the only one who always thinks of this song when I hear the word 'ting'?

If you think Stormzy is bad then listen to Stan by Eminem...shocking ( but catchy.)

I’m sure Donald Trump could claim to have funded some worthy projects in his time. I don’t care. He’s still a misogynist. People will judge him by his words regardless of his actions - that’s life

Are you actually joking? Video footage was released of Donald Trump literally admitting to sexually assaulting women and he was very shortly after elected as president of the United States. And you think white privilege isn’t a thing?!

I think ‘Kim’ by Eminem is the worst of his for misogyny . Stormzy doesn’t incite violence to woman. Infact in the songs where there’s questionable words (slut, pengting etc) he’s usually praising his mum or other woman within the same song.

So it turns out, this guy is from Norbury . And now, my friend is adamant he lives in New Malden because her house backs into his.

When I first came to UK, Norbury was where I got my first house share. I lived there for a few years in the mid - 90s, working in a local children’s home with the kind of young people his music would be aimed at. This would be about the time he was being born .

To be perfectly honest, I see the appeal of his music and, even as a “forrin” I can tmrekate ti it and where it comes from. I get the energy, the rawness. I love how it’s got a distinctly British feel. I’m not black and would never claim to speak for anyone who is, but that music can and does have a reach beyond the black community. His song as been No 1 after all. I may only follow maybe 50% of what he’s saying, but English is my second language and I’m old (mid 40s). As I said, I get the message he was trying to put out with the bullet proof vest and I liked the point about the ballet shoes because as an ex-dancer this was an issue for too long for sure.

Despite all this, I do think he let himself down massively by standing in front of thousands of people and saying -

“Getting freaky in the sheets taking body shots
Then I finish in her face just to top it off”

I mean, man up and get a grip. Call me old-fashioned if you will, but I still maintain this is an aggressive, misogynistic lyric. It makes me sad to see women in the audience having that inflicted on them. That’s how I see it. Apart from anything else, it’s uneccessary. No he may not be Donald Trump, but I would say this. How many little kids know that lyric? 80% of them? More? The song was no 1. If you can’t see that it promotes a certain porn-fuelled, toxic culture, then I don’t know what I can say. How do I explain to my girls they don’t have to put up with that in a relationship when the whole of Glastonbury are applauding it, smiling and dancing along? What do I say to my son about consent? It’s a shame. I hope one day, when this guy has daughters, he’ll look back on this and cringe. I like to think in the not too distant future this kind of thing will be as taboo as racism in music or homophobia. We’re not there yet, but maybe one day.

Im nearly 50, so perhaps I miss all the points he is trying to make.

I totally agree with PP comments about young children singing along to lyrics.

It seems to me that there is uproar when bands like PCDs, Little Mix etc are seen to selling or singing sexualised lyrics to their target market. However, because this guy cleverly overlaps current social issues with sexualised lyrics then it is ok?

If a girl group had gone on stage with lyrics like that there would be uproar. If they had worn stab vests they would have been pulled up for making a serious issue into a pr stunt.

Just because you are trendy, have an canny pr/design ideas and the kids all like you doesn't make it right.

Eminem's entire career was based on misogyny and glorifying violence against women. He's disgusting.

Kim was my dedication song for my birth mum. Eminem is my all-time favourite.

People objected to Eminem's misogyny, it didn't go unremarked. He was also criticised for cultural appropriation.

I think he hit mainstream because at that time misogyny was far more socially acceptable than it is now. There's still a long way to go, and not using language like some artists use (not just Stormzy) is part of it.

If little boys are running around parroting misogynistic lyrics, it forms part of their view of the world. If little girls hear it as normal, it does the same.

Every word of it is harmful, no matter the origin or the person saying/rapping/singing it.

Yes but I don't think Eminem tried to be some kind of political preacher did he?

MOSH?

“Getting freaky in the sheets taking body shots
Then I finish in her face just to top it off”
.....you got the lyrics wrong @Pa1oma

Stormzy doesn’t incite violence to women
Really? He has written a catchy little rap about how he's so cool that he can get off with your girlfriend (just to get at you) and spunk on her face. He is causing schoolboys to chant
"Then I finish in her face just to top it off".
I'm a WoC and I call this out for what it is - misogynistic boy gang shit. I've got a 13 year old dd and I would prefer it if Vossi Bop was not one of this year's number one hits. I am not proud of Stormzy. He does not represent me.

“My bruddas don't dab, we just Vossi bop
I tell your girl to link me at the coffee shop
Gettin' freaky in the sheets, we're takin' body shots
Then I finish with a facial just to top it off (ay)
My bruddas don't dab, we just Vossi bop
I tell your girl to link me at the coffee shop
Gettin' freaky in the sheets, we're takin' body shots
Then I finish with a facial just to top it off (ay)”

Oh I do apologise. The correct words are “with a facial” rather than “in her face.” Yes that makes all the difference.

And to be honest, the reason I keep going on about this is because my just turned 11 year-old daughter, who doesn’t know what grime or any of that scene is, thought this was “a rude song about men who wee in girls faces.” This is apparently what a boy had told them at school (year 6). I was so upset. They all know the words and apparently there’s a dance on Tik Tok (but she’s not allowed an account on that).

Those lyrics aren’t inciting violence against woman. I agree that it promotes ‘porn culture’ like most music and I don’t particularly like it but consensual sexual activities do not constitute violence against woman, even if you don’t like said activities.

but consensual sexual activities do not constitute violence against woman, even if you don’t like said activities

Agreed. Some women ask to have facials. Apparently it's good for the skin

Well you just keep convincing yourself this stuff is harmless if you must. I’d rather my son had role models who are real men, rather than men acting like teen boys. Men who actually have a sense of what it means to be a gentleman and the integrity to understand that some content may be offensive to women and damaging to children.

**
Yes but I don't think Eminem tried to be some kind of political preacher did he? Stormzy just looks stupid being all uppity one minute about 'Boris' and the government then singing misogynistic crap the next.

In 2017 Eminem rapped about Donald Trump in a freestyle that went viral, he also has a song entitled ‘White America’. This is the problem with threads like this, its always the people who don’t know what they are talking about who have the strong opinions and want to throw their two pence worth in without understanding what they are talking about in the slightest.

This is the problem with threads like this, its always the people who don’t know what they are talking about who have the strong opinions and want to throw their two pence worth in without understanding what they are talking about in the slightest.

Well now they know that Eminem did it too, so they can say the same things about him. He's already been criticised, for years, for misogynistic lyrics so this can be added to the pile of his shite.

Ok OP,
The Cure headlined. Great band, but they have a song called Killing an Arab. Since mums netters take everything on face value, how come no one started a thread on how inflammatory the title is, in this time and day.

"The Cure headlined. Great band, but they have a song called Killing an Arab"

Hasn't he apologised for that song?

cultural appropriation.

What appropriation? He grew up in Detroit, raps about his experiences and the culture he grew up in. He's not like Iggy Azalea.

Killing an Arab is Smith's impressionistic version of Camus' L'Etranger.

Which is probably a bit more high minded than singing about spaffing in a woman's face.