The Gang Signs & Prayer star sampled a speech by David Lammy during his Glastonbury 2019 performance.
Stormzy made history tonight (28 June) by becoming the first black British solo artist to headline the Worthy Farm festival. During his headline slot on the Pyramid Stage, the grime star played a speech by Labour MP David Lammy before diving into the Gang Signs & Prayer opener First Things First. The speech stated: “The system isn’t working. If recidivism rates are 46% for black men then something isn’t working.”
The politician has responded to the performance online, stating, “Humbled and inspired that he sampled my speech. Salute #Merky”. Watch a clip of the sample below.
✊🏿👊🏿 @stormzy using his headline spot at #glastonburyfestival2019 to speak out about the injustice of young black kids being criminalised in a biased and disproportionate justice system. Humbled and inspired that he sampled my speech. Salute #Merky pic.twitter.com/iSG3PMssrd
— David Lammy (@DavidLammy) June 28, 2019
Ghetts also commented on the set, saying, “God bless Stormzy and long live the culture the ones before and the ones after this is a moment for everyone who laid a brick to help build our house.”
God bless Stormzy and long live the culture the ones before and the ones after this is a moment for everyone who laid a brick to help build our house.
— GHETTS (@THEREALGHETTS) June 28, 2019
The show also featured a ballet performance and guest appearances from Dave and Fredo. During the rest of his set, Stormzy ran through hits such as Big for Your Boots and Ed Sheeran’s Shape of You. Read reactions from the performance below, and stay tuned for more live coverage from Glastonbury 2019.
BLACK 👏🏾BRITISH 👏🏾HISTORY pic.twitter.com/puiDT3L2Kt
— Clara Amfo (@claraamfo) June 28, 2019
As a former ballet student who felt the racism of the ballet world as a teenager I fully appreciated that beautiful moment Stormzy created for #Glastonbury 😰
— DMC 🇯🇲 (@d_mcconnell) June 28, 2019
Tonight @Stormzy made history by being the first black solo British headliner at Glastonbury. The performance was political, iconic and the ballet was beautifully powerful. It won’t just go down in Glastonbury history – it’ll go down in our country’s cultural history. #Glasto2019 pic.twitter.com/pmRt5OuqBI
— Jeremy Corbyn (@jeremycorbyn) June 28, 2019
Stormzy and Dave sharing the Glastonbury main stage. My heart is full. You love to see it, you really do.
— Aniefiok ‘Neef’ Ekpoudom (@AniefiokEkp) June 28, 2019
Stormzy the great
— SANTAN (@Santandave1) June 28, 2019
Stormzy is an example of how having a good heart and using your platform to uplift those around you can lead you to the top. Let this be a lesson to all of us that we need to continue lifting whilst we climb
— HabKat (@Habibakatsha) June 28, 2019
Stormzy bringing black Brit aesthetics to Glasto 👏🏾👏🏾
— Reni Eddo-Lodge (@renireni) June 28, 2019
Stormzy really got 100,000 people to scream Fuck Boris on The BBC then got a wheel up😭😭😭 #glastonburyfestival2019 pic.twitter.com/UB3vZ58jvv
— 🦅 (@UsmanA__) June 28, 2019
Stormzy the young king yes man 🗣🇬🇧♥️
— aj (@ajtracey) June 28, 2019
Stormzy x Dave x Fredo
At Glastonbury
🤝🏽#glastonburyfestival2019 pic.twitter.com/oykXkndVa7
— Mel (@MelChayse) June 28, 2019
While we’ve seen many “powerful” men practically drunk on power and the thought of power lately… look at the power of Stormzy right now. And so humble. That’s the kind of power we must nurture and protect 👊🏾 #StormzyAtGlasto
— Charlene White (@CharleneWhite) June 28, 2019