[Football] Krept and Konan - official England track

[Bakero]

So the BBC made a documentary with Krept & Konan about making an official England song and now it’s a non-story?

No, the fact that some.of their songs have some questionable lyrical content is a bit of a non-story.

 

[BN9 BHA]

No, the fact that some.of their songs have some questionable lyrical content is a bit of a non-story.

In your opinion

 

[Whitechapel]

It’s quite sad that the FA don’t feel like they can release a song because of the ethnicity of the artists.

Ah well, I fully await the middle class middle aged blokes who have sneered at the mere idea of the song still managing to take the moral high-ground when people boo the knee, despite not being much better themselves.

 

[Whitechapel]

In your opinion

I’ve heard Brighton fans sing songs mocking and encouraging arson attacks, shooting people because of the football team they support, claiming people are HIV Positive, or that other people should be burnt alive or shot in the head.

Any Brighton fan who has a problem with the lyrical content of any song is either a massive hypocrite or has a very short memory.

 

[Bakero]

In your opinion

Of course. For others it'll be big news for some reason

 

[Easy 10]

No, the fact that some.of their songs have some questionable lyrical content is a bit of a non-story.

The FA commissioned them to pen England's official song of Euro 2020, and the BBC broadcast a documentary on the writing of the song off the back of it. Only to later discover an extensive back catalogue of expletive-ridden mysogynistic gangsta rap, heavily peppered with 'nigga' in their lyrics.

In the current heightened racially sensitive climate, to avoid dropping this into A Stadium Near You, they appear to have silently backtracked on using it at all. My guess would be they'll wait till the end of the tournament now before making any kind of announcement, so as not to draw any attention to this balls-up whilst the tournament is ongoing.

I think there's a story in there.

 

[Whitechapel]

The FA commissioned them to pen England's official song of Euro 2020, and the BBC broadcast a documentary on the writing of the song off the back of it. Only to later discover an extensive back catalogue of expletive-ridden mysogynistic gangsta rap, heavily peppered with 'nigga' in their lyrics.

In the current heightened racially sensitive climate, to avoid dropping this into A Stadium Near You, they appear to have silently backtracked on using it at all. My guess would be they'll wait till the end of the tournament now before making any kind of announcement, so as not to draw any attention to this balls-up whilst the tournament is ongoing.

I think there's a story in there.

 

[Brovion]

It’s quite sad that the FA don’t feel like they can release a song because of the ethnicity of the artists.

Ah well, I fully await the middle class middle aged blokes who have sneered at the mere idea of the song still managing to take the moral high-ground when people boo the knee, despite not being much better themselves.

It would be if it were true, yes.

 

[Pavilionaire]

It’s quite sad that the FA don’t feel like they can release a song because of the ethnicity of the artists.

Ah well, I fully await the middle class middle aged blokes who have sneered at the mere idea of the song still managing to take the moral high-ground when people boo the knee, despite not being much better themselves.

If the FA have prevented the release of the song it's because they've become aware - albeit belatedly - that in virtually every other song the pair have made there is the N word, the F word, blatant sexism and sexist tropes.

It is nothing to do with the ethnicity of the artist and everything to do with the lyrical content, in my opinion.

I am a middle-aged bloke, I don't care what colour the artist is but what I do object to is the English FA endorsing an artist who's work is inherently sexist and racially offensive to many. Indeed, the more song lyrics of theirs I read the frequency of the N word begins to pale into insignificance when compared to the sexism. Bearing in mind the FA's stance on racism, sexism and inclusivity, getting girls into football and promoting women's sport how does any of this work:

If she ain't ****ing, she got to go
Tell her 'don't waste my time'

Gold bottles on the table
White girls want a interracial
They heard about the horses in the engine
Got these bitches unstable

Most of you assholes are bummy
I'll pop her cherry now she calling me Papi

Roll up in my AJ slippers
Wanna fire? Hit 'em first, yeah I Ray J niggas
No chase, no chase till I taste straight liquor
Got my kids in her mouth, that's a play date nigga

Walked in and do a Kanye on niggas
Bitch, you ain't got the answers
I'm not your man, don't stress me
**** buddy? I could be your bestie
Said she wanna lie down
Don't get make-up on my bed sheets
Come and step into my office
Should be honored that I offered

Where's all the Charlie you selling up in the party, nigga?
Where's the Cavalli, your money and the Versace, nigga?
Where's all your honeys? Say that you get the punani, nigga
Now we getting money, we must be Illuminati

 

[hart's shirt]

It’s quite sad that the FA don’t feel like they can release a song because of the ethnicity of the artists.

Ah well, I fully await the middle class middle aged blokes who have sneered at the mere idea of the song still managing to take the moral high-ground when people boo the knee, despite not being much better themselves.

From the outset, I should add here that I do like rap as a genre, even as a middle class middle age bloke with plenty of black mates (Nigerian, Ghanaian, Congolese and Zambian amongst others) in Dubai. I grew up listening to LL Cool J, Derek B, Run DMC and Public Enemy as well as the Beastie Boys. There's a 7" single of Fight The Power with my name on upstairs. And "most of my heroes don't appear on no stamps" is IMHO one of the most perceptive lyrics written, and is still sadly true.

But it's a bit of a reach to say that it's ethnicity that's stopping the song being released. It's the official England song. If ethnicity was a problem, they'd have never have entertained the idea of approaching K&K in the first place.

Even though it's not likely to be a sing-along terrace anthem, I'm looking forward to it being released...if indeed it ever will be, which is looking more unlikely with each day going by. The fact that it hasn't been almost halfway through the tournament suggests that there's other forces at work here.

Having given K&K their backing, IMHO the FA should at least have the courage of their convictions and push for the song to be released, regardless of potential negative press fallout from historic lyrical content. Having enjoyed K&K's documentary on making the song, it would be unfair to them if the song's release was being held back by anyone other than them.

Regardless of whether one likes rap or not, it's a complete shambles.

 

[cunning fergus]

A teacher needlessly using the word in question in a lesson is different from its use in a song by two young black men. One could argue that it's not acceptable in either case but it's disingenuous to claim not to see a contextual difference.

As a teacher in Spain, I've had to deal with students, both adults and teens, who have used the word in class. In each case they've been unaware of why it was so inappropriate and, especially in the case of adults, rather embarrassed and apologetic. On no occasion have I felt the need to repeat the word myself.

Anyway, this teacher hasn't been fired as far as I'm aware. The school has apologised and they're trying to deal with it sensitively. Of course others will try to use it to stoke the fires of the culture war.

It would appear these days ANY use of the word is needless, but context is everything. Personally speaking if a teacher uses the word to a class of 13/14 year olds strictly on the basis that it is NOT the way to pronounce the country NIGER, I think that has more credence than 2 young black men that frequently use it in songs where they indulge themselves in sexist tropes and reinforcing racist stereotypes.

That these 2 young men were unveiled by the FA and the BBC as the contemporary reference point to England today, with responsibility for the England teams euro anthem is frankly astonishing. The very week they were unveiled Olly Robinson had his England career suspended for his “racist” conduct as a young man. I hope His career is not in the bin, like the teacher up in Batley, or hopefully this teacher.

It’s helpful that people like you are so clear on the context and what is important in these matters, but then I don’t have the insight of a teacher in Spain like you.

 

[Bakero]

It would appear these days ANY use of the word is needless, but context is everything. Personally speaking if a teacher uses the word to a class of 13/14 year olds strictly on the basis that it is NOT the way to pronounce the country NIGER, I think that has more credence than 2 young black men that frequently use it in songs where they indulge themselves in sexist tropes and reinforcing racist stereotypes.

That these 2 young men were unveiled by the FA and the BBC as the contemporary reference point to England today, with responsibility for the England teams euro anthem is frankly astonishing. The very week they were unveiled Olly Robinson had his England career suspended for his “racist” conduct as a young man. I hope His career is not in the bin, like the teacher up in Batley, or hopefully this teacher.

It’s helpful that people like you are so clear on the context and what is important in these matters, but then I don’t have the insight of a teacher in Spain like you.

I'm sorry, but are you saying that there are racist overtones when the artists in question use the word? I'm not entirely comfortable with it either but it's not my place to start policing its use. The fact that it is used so liberally in music is why my students in Spain and elsewhere feel it's a legitimate bit of vocab; hence my mentioning of it. It's an unfortunate side effect of its reclamation. I don't think I need to explain the hows and whys of reclaiming the word.

By all means, go after K&K for the sexist lyrics but the other angle is tenuous.

 

[BN9 BHA]

I’ve heard Brighton fans sing songs mocking and encouraging arson attacks, shooting people because of the football team they support, claiming people are HIV Positive, or that other people should be burnt alive or shot in the head.

Any Brighton fan who has a problem with the lyrical content of any song is either a massive hypocrite or has a very short memory.

 

[BN9 BHA]

It’s quite sad that the FA don’t feel like they can release a song because of the ethnicity of the artists.:

Is this actually true?

 

[SAC]

Is this actually true?

Nope.

 

[Whitechapel]

If the FA have prevented the release of the song it's because they've become aware - albeit belatedly - that in virtually every other song the pair have made there is the N word, the F word, blatant sexism and sexist tropes.

It is nothing to do with the ethnicity of the artist and everything to do with the lyrical content, in my opinion.

I am a middle-aged bloke, I don't care what colour the artist is but what I do object to is the English FA endorsing an artist who's work is inherently sexist and racially offensive to many. Indeed, the more song lyrics of theirs I read the frequency of the N word begins to pale into insignificance when compared to the sexism. Bearing in mind the FA's stance on racism, sexism and inclusivity, getting girls into football and promoting women's sport how does any of this work:

If she ain't ****ing, she got to go
Tell her 'don't waste my time'

Gold bottles on the table
White girls want a interracial
They heard about the horses in the engine
Got these bitches unstable

Most of you assholes are bummy
I'll pop her cherry now she calling me Papi

Roll up in my AJ slippers
Wanna fire? Hit 'em first, yeah I Ray J niggas
No chase, no chase till I taste straight liquor
Got my kids in her mouth, that's a play date nigga

Walked in and do a Kanye on niggas
Bitch, you ain't got the answers
I'm not your man, don't stress me
**** buddy? I could be your bestie
Said she wanna lie down
Don't get make-up on my bed sheets
Come and step into my office
Should be honored that I offered

Where's all the Charlie you selling up in the party, nigga?
Where's the Cavalli, your money and the Versace, nigga?
Where's all your honeys? Say that you get the punani, nigga
Now we getting money, we must be Illuminati

And you think the F.A didn’t realise these songs existed before they asked them to write the official song for the England Team? They’re not even flavour of the month so it’s hardly like they’ve panicked and just picked the first ‘urban artist’ they could.

If you think they’ve only just discovered the lyrics that you’ve managed to dig up then fair enough. It’s much more likely though that they’ve seen that people are still booing the knee & have decided that maybe releasing a song by two young black Muslims may not be the smartest move in the current political climate.

I’d also argue that using a song that’s a decade old is probably not the best move. There’s plenty of more recent examples you can go for that would make your point much more relevant, even if it’s still stupid.

From the outset, I should add here that I do like rap as a genre, even as a middle class middle age bloke with plenty of black mates (Nigerian, Ghanaian, Congolese and Zambian amongst others) in Dubai. I grew up listening to LL Cool J, Derek B, Run DMC and Public Enemy as well as the Beastie Boys. There's a 7" single of Fight The Power with my name on upstairs. And "most of my heroes don't appear on no stamps" is IMHO one of the most perceptive lyrics written, and is still sadly true.

But it's a bit of a reach to say that it's ethnicity that's stopping the song being released. It's the official England song. If ethnicity was a problem, they'd have never have entertained the idea of approaching K&K in the first place.

Even though it's not likely to be a sing-along terrace anthem, I'm looking forward to it being released...if indeed it ever will be, which is looking more unlikely with each day going by. The fact that it hasn't been almost halfway through the tournament suggests that there's other forces at work here.

Having given K&K their backing, IMHO the FA should at least have the courage of their convictions and push for the song to be released, regardless of potential negative press fallout from historic lyrical content. Having enjoyed K&K's documentary on making the song, it would be unfair to them if the song's release was being held back by anyone other than them.

Regardless of whether one likes rap or not, it's a complete shambles.

I don’t think The FA has withdrawn the track through racism, I think they’ve withdrawn it through complete cowardice when they heard people booing the knee at the friendlies.

Unfortunately for every person who will boo the knee they’ll also be a hundred people in this country who will also find any reason to slag off a song they haven’t heard. Whilst the gammons are obviously much more of a problem the second group will just hand them a megaphone. It’s hilarious because whenever any thread on here is even loosely related to rap you can predict who will post and what they’ll be saying before you even open it. It’ll be the type of blokes who dislike women even being in the studio for men’s football and who refer to the old Top Gear presenters by their nickname. And they’ll be using phrases like “gangsta rap” and “50 cent” to describe Hip-Hop because they haven’t actually heard anything ‘urban’ since 2005.

I honestly wouldn’t be surprised if the delay was because the FA want lyrics removed that mention race specifically as they know it’ll anger morons. Let’s not forget that when black artists talk about topics like being black then they’re labelled as racist:
https://www.nme.com/news/music/peop...ingle-black-faces-backlash-on-radio-1-2454226

https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-...ormzy-boris-johnson-priti-patel-a9389346.html

 

[Whitechapel]

View attachment 137897

If you say so.


Pretty sure we had this exact conversation about a year ago which ended with you, which ended very differently. We won’t try to figure out why after a year dominated with talk of racial equality you’re so much more dismissive

 

[BN9 BHA]

If you say so.

 

[BN9 BHA]

:


Pretty sure we had this exact conversation about a year ago which ended with you, which ended very differently. We won’t try to figure out why after a year dominated with talk of racial equality you’re so much more dismissive

I can’t remember what happened last week

 

[Pint of Ale and a Burger]

I thought it would be released Friday but when it wasn't I did start to wonder what's going on here.

The FA have obviously deemed it too controversial and may detract from the team focussing on the tournament.