Over 300 complaints were filed.
After Dave’s performance of the song Black at the BRIT Awards, UK media regulator Ofcom received 309 complaints claiming that the track is “racist” towards white people. During the performance, Dave reworked verses from the song. He called for “support for the Windrush generation”, condemned the media’s treatment of Meghan Markle and paid his respects to those killed in the Grenfell fire. He also called Boris Johnson “a real racist“.
Ofcom has now rejected the racism complaints. A spokesperson for Ofcom told Metro that “the performance was likely to be within most viewers’ expectations of this well-established awards ceremony”. They added, “It’s not uncommon for artists to express personal political views during their performances”.
Home Secretary Priti Patel also complained shortly after Dave’s performance, and told BBC Breakfast that Boris Johnson is “absolutely not a racist”. She said, “I’m afraid that is very much a generalisation that has been made by rapper Dave, and I just disagree with it.”
After his performance, Dave took home the award for Album of the Year. His debut album Psychodrama was released in March 2019.
Revisit Crack Magazine’s cover story with Dave.
