Slowthai brought a fake decapitated head of Boris Johnson onstage tonight at the Hyundai Mercury Prize 2019 ceremony. The mannequin head is a visual accompaniment of sorts to the rapper’s new album, Nothing Great About Britain, which takes aim at local politics and the Prime Minister alike.
The whole thing went down live on TV, though Slowthai’s brief speech and his dangling of the mannequin head were cut off by cameras. As one of 12 British acts nominated for the Mercury Prize, he performed one of his own songs, “Doorman”, onstage. Immediately after finishing, he presented the fake head to the crowd, shouting, “Fuck Boris Johnson, fuck everything, and there’s nothing great about Britain!”
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In July, after getting the Mercury nomination, Slowthai told NME that he thinks Johnson is a “lesser version” of Donald Trump. “Boris Johnson! Look at his haircut. He’s a twat, but he seems like he’s changing his life. I don’t know how late in your life you can do that, but a leopard don’t change its spots,” he added. “This cunt keeps popping up and now he’s there! He’s gonna be there for a good few years, I thought he was near retirement. But he’s not. Fuck him!”
To seize the moment, Slowthai is selling a cartoonish “Fuck Boris” t-shirt. The front side of the shirt shows nine nude depictions of Boris Johnson that spells out “FUCK BORIS”. The opposite side shows a nude depiction of Johnson, complete with a crown on his head, having sex with Great Britain. It’s available to purchase at Slowthai’s website.
Revisit the event, and find his tweets promoting the t-shirt, below.
FUCK BORIS T-SHIRTS OUT NOW!!!https://t.co/L7oWQeec24 pic.twitter.com/4cxgzeUtPP
— TYRON (@slowthai) September 19, 2019
