MPs, artists and music venues have warned that discrimination and prejudice is jeopardising grime and rap music in the UK.
The Commons Media Select Committee has looked into the future of the UK’s live music industry and their report has found that grime is one of the “UK’s most exciting musical exports” but councils and venue owners are not supporting urban music.
Rapper ShaoDow told Sky News: “A few years ago I was doing a club tour around the country and on the day I was due to arrive at one of the clubs, I phoned up the venue beforehand to check everything was in order and the venue said “Oh I’ve just realised you make hip hop. We can’t do that here because we will lose our licence”.
The rapper ShaoDow stays away from explicit themes and expletives but still gets dismissed because of the genre of his music.
The report calls on the government to develop guidance for police forces, licensing authorities and music venues on risk management so that urban music acts are not unfairly targeted by getting their shows shut down or canceling on them altogether.
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