Stormzy’s career is proof you don’t need to sacrifice your integrity to be successful

One of the most meteoric rises in British music history has been achieved by a Black man uncompromising in his commitment to his community

Recently Stormzy opened the #MerkyFC headquarters in Croydon alongside adidas. The centre is a beacon of hope for young people that includes top of the line football facilities, a music studio and gaming centre. The centre is also placing a focus on widening opportunities for Black people in football jobs. Whilst Black players make up a large proportion of elite players, all the other roles that make the game tick see a critical lack of non-white talent. But this article isn’t about that. Its about our relationship with celebrity culture and the beliefs we have about the inevitability of selling one’s soul.

People are awakening to the needlessness of celebrities who don’t advocate for normal people. There is an increasing understanding that putting people on a pedestal, simply for being talented, gives nothing to wider society. Hark your mind back to 2020. In the wake of the Covid pandemic actress Gal Gadot (perhaps in an effort to do something more egregious than being a Zionist) enlisted celebrities including Jamie Dorman, Natalie Portman, Will Ferrell and a whole host of others to sing John Lennon’s Imagine on Instagram. To presumably…comfort people in the wake of a deadly global illness? Ironically, it served as a useful watershed moment, sparking wider conversations about whether celebrity culture was obsolete.

In the wake of Israel’s siege on Palestine a TikTok movement called blockout 2024 has emerged. The basic idea is that users block celebrities based on their stances on Palestine. These stances range from outward support of Zionism like the celebrities including: Amy Schumer, Ben Stiller, Bradley Cooper, Chris Rock, Courtney Cox, Lana Del Rey, P Diddy, Will Ferrell and many more who signed an open letter to Joe Biden thanking him for his leadership response to the Israel - Hamas war, to celebrities who have been silent on the matter. The rationale is that if celebrities are blocked, their social media reach will decrease, which will in turn decrease their marketability and capacity to make money from advertisers. The movement is essentially making the proposition that: celebrities are reliant on the attention economy, so if they don’t use the social capital we give them for collectivist aims, it will be taken away. 

The efficacy of this strategy is debatable. But it does show us how modern celebrities may be incentivised to tow lines to manage their public image. Stormzy has never cared to do that. In 2017 he was awarded the solo artist of the year award by Jeremy Corbyn at the GQ Men of the Year function. After heralding the Black excellence in the room he finished his speech by saying “I want to use this to say that Theresa May is a pagan and you know what we’re doing right now. Yeah trust me. Yeah it’s awkward when I say that innit yeah? Trust”. It would’ve been easy to stay out of political discussions, particularly in a country whose press consistently negatively targets successful Black people - regardless of political engagement. Instead he went on to be a vocal support of Jeremy Corbyn’s election campaigns in both 2017 and 2019.