Bloc Party frontman and solo artist Kele Okereke said he’s horrified by the racist climates that have been created around Trump in the U.S. and Brexit in the U.K., accusing many of his fellow artists in being complicit in it, specifically Morrissey and Brandon Flowers, in a new interview with NME.
“I’ve never experienced such widespread public racism,” said Kele. “This idea of a multi-cultural Britain, that there is now somehow resistance towards it, is something that I’ve never experienced in my life [until] now. And it’s not just the politicians and the media. It’s the artists too.”
Kele continued: “I think of the comments that Morrissey recently made and his support for Britain First. It’s clear to me that there is an idea of Britain and Britishness that is supposed to exclude people who are non-white and this idea is becoming more and more prominent. As a black musician who was born in the UK and who lives in the UK, I found it very disheartening that none of my peers really came out to publicly counter Morrissey’s recent comments and behaviour. I found that personally quite dispiriting and even worse, the only comments by musicians seemed to be in support of him – like Brandon Flowers. Brandon Flowers is basically saying it doesn’t matter what Morrissey says, he’s still a revered icon. I think that’s bullsh*t and I think Brandon Flowers is bullsh*t. It does matter. It absolutely matters what people say and the fact that no one is willing to challenge him on this to me is quite disgusting. Shame on him and shame on Morrissey.”
