George The Poet has written a thought provoking piece for i-D Magazine giving us some insight into his perspective on society, politics and the music industry. George explains in detail his views on one of the focal points of this general election; youth disengagement.
Shedding light on the array of false promises presented by labels and politicians alike:
“The fast-approaching general election has brought to my attention something blindingly obvious: politics is a lot like the music industry. Both are structures committed to ownership of the future, in their respective fields. In order to secure the future, people in these structures have to do a lot of promising and haggling around perhaps the most confounding aspect of human life: emotion. “This next album will blow your mind!”or it just won’t, I have literally no way of knowing. “It’s time to give the people what they want!”- because the people want another complicated story about what you meant to do and why the previous people in your position made it impossible for you to achieve. The biggest challenge faced by any structure founded on the coordination of emotions is that times change, and when that happens, people change. It becomes increasingly difficult to make an impression as people start “getting over”the way things were, and simply move on.”
On Grime and how it declined:
“The more I studied sociology, the less sense this issue made to me. It seemed logical that representation went hand in hand with engagement, leading to success. I couldn’t understand what could be gained from alienating people, until it hit me: it’s not always the case that people are alienated from structures; sometimes the structures are alienated from the people. This explains the decline of the very genre that made me who I am — grime. The grime scene was an energetic outburst of invisible kids like me, who, under the guidance of pioneers such as Wiley, spearheaded what is described as the “democratisation of music production” in my community. Everyone had access to a home studio and everyone had lyrics. Adolescents were organising themselves around the purpose of representation, making music that spoke to their reality. Although there was commercial potential here, the agendas of structures outside the community, such as the music industry and the police force, stifled the genre. This is where representation can be a bitch. The lack of influential representatives from our community meant that the suppression of our beloved art form was a covert assassination attempt that went largely unreported.”
How politics and the music industry alienate young people:
“In the same way that the political sphere systemically alienates young voters by not accommodating for their needs, so too can the entertainment industry write itself out of relevance by failing to engage the consumer on a deeper level. Numbers don’t lie: the significance of the artist, and consequently the song, in consumers’ lives is fast receding and the solution I propose is an economic one: increase stakeholder value. Give everyone involved a reason to want more. A social outcome isn’t necessarily a song around a campfire, it’s simply an extension of the music’s relevance. This could stem from its subject matter, its production value, or simply the personal interests of the artist who created it.”
Courtesy of i-D Magazine, read the full piece here