London rapper Dave performed a new rendition of his song Black at the Brit Awards, stunning audiences with his message and visuals. Via the Guardian:
In an extended version of his song, with new verses written for the night, south London’s hottest star demanded justice for the Windrush generation and the victims of Grenfell, called the media to account for the treatment of Meghan Markle and declared Boris Johnson “a real racist”. The O2 arena gave him a standing ovation and the performance immediately began trending online. But how did it all come together?
“With five minutes of adrenaline and two months’ planning and rehearsals,” jokes Rimell, a former choreographer, who helped head a team of 16. She and Bronski run Tawbox, the studio behind Stormzy’s headline set at Glastonbury last year and Rita Ora’s Phoenix arena tour. She watched Dave from the side of the stage.
“We had two camera rehearsals. In the second one there were about 30 people in the room and at the end you could hear a pin drop,” she says. “I knew what was coming but it was still so emotional on the night – especially seeing how much it connected with all the young kids at the front and how much it meant to them.
“It wasn’t a typical Brits performance, there wasn’t a huge cheer at the end. People were stunned. They couldn’t believe what they saw.”