Tinie Tempah thinks the UK underplays its racism problem.
The 31-year-old rapper has rubbished the idea that racism isn’t as prevalent in the UK as it is in the US, describing it as “the height of ignorance”.
Reflecting on the murder of George Floyd and race riots in the US, he explained: “I’m even gonna go as far as to say, shame on you, whoever says that, shame on you. Because we all know that racism exists in the UK.
“Even for someone to say that officers aren’t armed [in the UK], it’s almost like … I don’t know how the best way to describe this is … it’s almost excused, almost trying to find a justification for why we are better or not. The fact is that racism is wrong. And if racism exists anywhere, on any level, it’s wrong. It’s inhumane. It’s evil.”
Tinie also admitted to feeling “marginalized”.
He told Sky News: “You know, we wouldn’t accept this for an animal so to keep seeing it happen to human beings – more importantly, to black people, people of color – you definitely have a feeling of being marginalized.”
Earlier this week, MOBO boss Kanya King revealed she was previously “ostracised” when she discussed racism in the music industry.
The founder and CEO of the MOBO organization hope recent protests will prove to be “a watershed moment”, but Kanya said her own efforts to tackle discrimination within the music business were “completely dismissed”.
She shared: “When I first started talking about racism in music, my comments were completely dismissed – I was ostracised. The powers that be even wanted to get rid of us [black people] altogether, as we were seen as ‘difficult’.”
