Grime stars have celebrated claims of unprecedented youth turnout to help propel a surge for Labour and its leader Jeremy Corbyn - causing a shock hung parliament at the UK general election on Thursday, 8 June.
The result follows months of political activism from within the grime movement, a genre that has spread from a vibrant underground sub-culture to mainstream consciousness in recent years.
The Mercury Prize winning success of Skepta’s Konnichiwa in 2016, followed by the chart prominence of Stormzy this year, has underpinned the influential place of the scene’s biggest names within youth culture — many of whom went on to find newfound political engagement amid the #grime4Corbyn campaign.
JME, a key name in the Boy Better Know collective, who held an interview with Corbyn prior to voting day, was among the first to express his congratulations at the reports of a high youth turnout inspired by the progressive Labour policies.
Having previously revealed he would himself be voting for the first time in this election, he congratulated his Twitter followers, writing: “Give yourselves a pat on the back. Stay involved, Grow up listening & learning, vote for who's 'best' at the time. Don't grow old & angry”.
He added: “Also, when you have kids, teach them to do their research and vote for who they think is best. Don’t brainwash them to agree with you.”
The 32-year-old also defended his actions against criticism from some quarters for exerting his influence to “brainwash” a socialist outcome.
“I was offered the chance to interview Jeremy for iD mag, like many interviews I've done before whether it be for Noisey, or my bredrins,” he began.
“Not once did I tell them who to vote for, or who I was voting for, (not that there should be an issue even if I did)
“But yeh, goal was to get the youth involved in their future here on Earth. That can't be a bad thing, don't be angry. Blessup and press ups.”
His praise was reflected by contemporaries, including Novelist, who posted: “Musicians, find out your local MPs details, get in contact with them and start doing business for your area. It doesn't stop at voting.”
Fellow MC Akala wrote: “Recognise the victory. A Trump friendly, human rights abolishing, meal stealing, Tory landslide would have have been a total disaster. You stopped that and now they HAVE to factor in an actual, actual opposition from outside their accepted spectrum.”
Others in the scene responded with humorous joy at the downfall of the Conservative majority. Stormzy, who had previously implored his followers to vote, simply tweeted “lol”, presumably in reference to Theresa May
