Guestlist

issue 73

Monthly newspaper and online publication targeting 18 to 35 year olds. The ultimate guide to the hottest parties, going out and having fun. Music, fashion, film, travel, festivals, technology, comedy, and parties! London, Barcelona, Miami and Ibiza.

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7 5 Issue 73 / 2015 GUESTLIST guestlist.net The BRITs has an odd relationship to the British music scene. The awards are mainstream and celebrate commercial success, as shown by big winners Sam Smith and Ed Sheeran, but there seems to be no commitment to rewarding outstanding British music. It's all well and good celebrating artists who have achieved excellent record and ticket sales, but what about quality, creativeness and innovation? Smith and Sheeran have talent, there's no denying that, and obviously a lot of people listen to their music, but they are not really representative of the British music scene. There are such strong indie, dance and grime scenes in the UK, but you'd be hard pressed to know that from the BRITs. Not only does Britain's biggest music awards show only recognise a small portion of the music being produced in this country – pop being the dominant force – but female and black artists are also failing to be recognised. The BRITs have morphed into an overwhelmingly corporate event. Their main purpose seems to be to keep the industry happy, so their relevance to anyone else is diminishing year on year. The personality and edginess of previous years – Jarvis Cocker mooning during an MJ performance, KLF shooting blanks from assault rifle into the audience, Robbie goading Liam Gallagher to fight him – has faded away too. Thank God the Americans turned up because they were the ones who gave us something to talk about; Sam Smith, Ed Sheeran and George Ezra all singing into a mic stand is hardly newsworthy. Although at least Sheeran went out and got shitfaced afterwards like a proper Brit would. Madonna bit the dust super hard after being tugged down a set of stairs by one of her backing dancers. Ok, it's not as if she planned to do it (although it has done wonders for her record sales) but at least she tried to put on a show. Kanye West delivered a powerful performance of his new track 'All Day' and presented a vision – a mob of grime artists including Skepta, Jammer, Stormzy, Krept and Konan, Novelist, Shorty and Fekky, with hoods up and flamethrowers on – that probably had the suits scared shitless. ITV certainly weren't happy as the performance was so heavily muted on the broadcast that it was completely ruined. Big ups to Kanye for bringing those grime artists on stage with him, but shouldn't we be the ones promoting our own dynamic and exciting talent? Why did it take an American to come over and make this protest? As Wiley tweeted afterwards, "Last night a statement was made. Kanye knows the Brits ain't letting dons in there like that so he kicked off the door for us." Arguments have been going back and forth about whether Kanye was patronising the British MCs by having them back him up or whether grime needs American validation to flourish, but at least Kanye shook things up on an otherwise boring night. The notorious graffiti artist Banksy claims to have snuck into Gaza via a secret illegal underground tunnel to create the pieces, which include a fairground ride, a cat, a woman crying and a message that reads "If we wash our hands of the conflict between the powerful and the powerless we side with the powerful – we don't remain neutral". He's not shy about his opinions on Palestine; he visited the West Bank in 2005 and painted some of his most famous pieces directly onto the separation wall. In tagging areas of Gaza, Banksy has ensured that people's attention has returned to the war zone. In a satirical video titled "Make this the year YOU discover a new destination", he juxtaposes tourist clichés with footage of Gaza's destruction to powerful effect. Banksy tags gaza Four new Banksy artworks have appeared amongst the rubble of Gaza The biggest night in British music got us talking, but it's not all good BRIt awaRds 2015

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