There was an increase of 236 percent in voter registration following social media posts by UK grime artist and rapper.
A day after rapper Stormzy posted Instagram and Twitter posts urging his followers to vote, new voter registrations among under 25 year olds leapt more than 150,000.
This is reported to be the largest increase in single-day sign-ups since May 22nd, 2017, the deadline day for registration in the last general election.
The number of users registering to vote increased hugely by 40,000 from 8,296 to 47,920 following his posts, as seen on the voter registration dashboard run by Gov.uk.
In the midst of announcing a huge world tour beginning February 7, 2020, for new album ‘Heavy is the Head’, the rapper took time to post to his combined 4 million followers urging them to register to vote for the upcoming election on December 12.
“Don’t sit there and think “my one little vote ain’t gonna do anything”—your vote is CRUCIAL. Your “one little vote’ can quite literally tip the scale for what will be the most important election of our generation,” his post read.
He went on to declare current prime minister Boris Johnson “a sinister man with a long record of lying”, but insisted his followers vote for whoever they choose – “Go out and do your own research and try your best to learn and understand who it is you’re voting for,” he added.
If labour wins they’ve gotta give stormzy a knighthood
— Shirl (@justjackmate) November 27, 2019
The aftermath of his posts saw a 236 percent increase in voter registration.
Youth activist and student, Moe Abdul, told Raven News, “Getting young people mobilised is great, no matter what. At least [Stormzy] encourages young people to just go out and vote, even if they don’t agree with his music or message in general. Having influence and actually doing something with it has clearly worked in this case – not just leading people blindly into the fray.”
Stormzy’s foray into youth political engagement was quickly dismissed by Tory politician, Michael Gove, who mocked his support for Labour and interest in youth voters by quoting a line from Stormzy’s song, ‘Shut Up’.
I set trends dem man copy https://t.co/85mTHXaZDn
— Michael Gove (@michaelgove) November 26, 2019
Whilst music already has the power to influence our culture and society, musicians have long used their influence to encourage their audiences in socio-political matters.
Social media is having a scary effect on the election. If the reports are true on the numbers people like Stormzy are getting to vote labour we could be in trouble.
— John Black (@Johnblack_90) November 27, 2019
In anticipation of the 2017 election, the group Grime4Corybn was formed as a movement headlined by rappers who saw their listeners also as potential voters. Previous supporter of the movement and rapper, AJ Tracey, recently said in an interview with the Observer that he was no longer supporting Corbyn: “Corbyn is a great guy and his morals are in the right place, but I don’t think he’s strong enough to be our leader.”
Grime artist Skepta also veers away from Stormzy’s endorsement of Corbyn and the run up to the election in general. Talking to Fader magazine, he said: “Everyone was tellin’ everyone, all the youth to ‘vote for my man.’ I’m not watchin’ them, I’m laughin’ at them.”
“If they’re [young people] in a place where they really feel like at the mercy of the system and the government, then they should vote. But your main focus is to live with that not existing in your life. I don’t want to have a say in the country,”he added.
In the run up to the election, musicians like Stormzy, pop singer Lily Allen, and rapper and activist M.I.A, have continued to reach out to their followers with messages of support and urgent pleas and reminders to cast their vote on December 12.