“The people who get up and vote, they have the power to control the system”
In a cover story with PUSH Magazine – a new bi-annual publication created by grime photographer Vicky Grout and journalist Grant Brydon – the Lewisham MC delivers a short essay on the importance of political engagement – in fact, he says, it’s unavoidable.
“First things first. You can’t avoid the system. No one can avoid the system. You’re not avoiding the system if you choose not to vote, you’re still a part of it whether you like it or not, ” he declares. “I don’t look at politics like a separate part of life. I look at it in the same way I view going to the shops. It’s something that we all have to be involved in… You can’t avoid politics by opting out; it doesn’t work like that. We don’t have the means to start a new society, we need to control where we’re from. We need try to influence it for the betterment of the people, rather than for the sake of the richest 1%.”
Earlier this year, the artist voiced his support for Labour on Twitter, which inspired the emergence of pro-Corbyn posters around London and the website Grime 4 Corbyn. For PUSH, he continues to detail why he’s backing Jeremy Corbyn. “I’m an advocate for Jeremy Corbyn, because he is an advocate for that same message. It’s not even necessarily that I care about Labour, but I know that Corbyn possesses a sense of decency that I rarely see in politicians. I relate to the things that he speaks on and how he articulates himself. He doesn’t try to confuse the general public – he connects with them. There are a lot of politicians that speak purposefully to distance themselves from the average person, which helps them get away with so many things. Corbyn makes it very simple; he speaks plainly and in a way that everyone can understand.”
As a call to arms, he ends his essay on the importance of voting. “I feel like I have a duty to encourage my peers to vote. I hope that if they can see how easy it is, and how important it is, that they will get out and spend the five minutes that it takes to register to vote.”
“I see politics the same way I see everything in life; whether it’s faith, sport, music or law, you’ve got to study. You have to. If you’re not willing to study, you’re willing to be a victim. It’s time for us to start being in control of our own destiny.”
Registration closes at 11:59PM tonight (22 May). If you haven’t already, click here to register to vote. Read up on why it’s important to do so, and revisit Crack’s feature with Novelist.
(via i-D)