British Rapper with Adventist Background Apologizes for Waving Model of Boris Johnson’s Severed Head at Awards Event
23 September 2019 | British rapper Slowthai has apologized after waving a model of British prime minister Boris Johnson’s severed head at a televised awards show last Thursday.
Slowthai, who regularly attended Adventist services growing up, waved the effigy of the British leader’s head while on stage and chanting “fxxx Boris Johnson, fxxx everything.”
The rapper, who also cursed Queen Elizabeth II, called the head-waving stunt “art” and later apologized if anyone had taken offense.
Slowthai (real name: Tyron Kaymone Frampton), was an award nominee at the event. According to The Sun, the rapper said that he was a “good boy” who regularly attended church as a child.
He said that he did not mean to incite violence with the stunt but was making a statement about democracy being killed.
The Sun notes that Frampton’s younger brother Michael died when he was only a year old and Slowthai was eight. The future rapper’s stepfather thought that the child’s death was God’s punishment for his wrongs and he consequently became an Adventist, bringing Frampton to church with him.
According to the denomination’s Office of Archives, Statistics and Research, there were 294 churches and a membership of 38,213 in the UK as of June 30, 2018.