Perhaps this expansion of the universities has gone a little too far:
[perfectpullquote align=”full” bordertop=”false” cite=”” link=”” color=”” class=”” size=””]Britain’s first ever degree in rap as university offers qualification to find next Stormzy[/perfectpullquote]The first comment is that the moment we institutionalise pop music it is no longer pop music. The second that the point of the stuff is to epater les bourgeois and there’s nothing more bourgeois than a middle aged lecturer attempting to be down and hip with the kidz. That the very phrase down and hip with the kidz is at least three generations out of date rather proves the point.
But there’s more to it than that:
[perfectpullquote align=”full” bordertop=”false” cite=”” link=”” color=”” class=”” size=””]Britain’s first rap degree has been launched as universities try to find the next Stormzy,[/perfectpullquote]We already have a system that finds the next – and the last – Stormzy. He’s some 26 years old. He first uploaded some stuff to YouTube at the age of what, 21 or 22? Had a hit album by 23 or 24. At 26 he’s just headlined Glastonbury.
Sounds like we’ve already got a pretty good identification, finding, system. You know, that market? Why piss about with what works?
Sure, we can go around one more iteration and argue that why shouldn’t that market try other methods of finding that next one. Which is fine, except for this:
[perfectpullquote align=”full” bordertop=”false” cite=”” link=”” color=”” class=”” size=””]However, the government will fund parts of the degree in certain circumstances.[/perfectpullquote]Nah, bugger off.
Under what circumstance? The student is black?
Isn’t one enough (or perhaps more than enough)?