[59.1] TAKING THE RAP?

“Fat-headed, self-important windbags who should try thinking before talking: It’s all very well for musicians to claim that it’s no fault of theirs when some attention seeking politician makes a bloody fool of himself spouting rubbish about their videos causing gang warfare in Birmingham. But the likes of So Solid Crew should remember that many middle-aged white men are impressionable, unsophisticated and have no minds of their own – they lack, to coin a phrase, maturity and boundaries. Art is a powerful influence, especially on the feeble minded, and just as the Beatles all but sharpened Charles Manson’s knife, so So Solid Crew must accept responsibility for the indiscriminate assault on logic perpetrated by [UK government minister Kim] Howells and [Home Secretary David] Blunkett.”

Andrew Mueller [© 2002] cuts to the chase in the great ‘Is Hip-Hop Responsible For Urban Violence’ non-debate in Britain (The Guide, 18-24 January 2003).