Ghetts on standing up for women, street politics, and pioneer recognition: ‘Peace is not too much to ask for’
At his studio on the outskirts of east London, Ghetts is working on new music.
Given his latest album, On Purpose, With Purpose, was introduced to the world just a few days before we meet it seems unusual, but when the ideas don’t stop there is no time for rest.
Ghetts describes his working days “as pretty much Groundhog Day”, with a gym workout at 9.30am then straight to the studio. But this is his sanctuary. “It’s like therapy almost. I’m happy when I’m here.”
One of the UK’s most influential rap artists, Ghetts, real name Justin Clarke, was a teenager when grime emerged in the UK in the early 2000s. He has been in the business for half his life and hailed a trailblazer in the genre, with the mainstream catching up in recent years; in 2019, he received an Ivor Novello nomination, followed by a number two chart position and Mercury Prize nomination for third album, Conflict Of Interest, in 2021.
Ghetts says working in his studio is like ‘therapy’
At this year’s MOBOs he received the pioneer award, a “crazy” moment that saw him joined on stage by his parents, who have supported him since the start. “I feel like that’s not just a ‘me’ moment, that’s quite an ‘us’ moment, you know, the culture,” he says of the award. “That meant a lot.”
Ghetts is known for delivering sharp, social commentary through his lyrics, and as something of a veteran now he feels more comfortable than ever getting his message across. In On Purpose, With Purpose, he features collaborations with musicians including Kano, Wretch 32 and Sampha, and touches on everything from politics, war, and knife and gun crime, to parenting, abortion laws and postnatal depression. However, he dismisses the idea of it as political commentary.
“I guess it’s just a reflection of the times,” the rapper says. “I don’t think it’s anything political just to state facts… Some of [the songs] are not as controversial as others, but like I said, it’s a reflection of the world, seeing these things happening. I wouldn’t necessarily say I was calling them out. I’m an artist and I’m painting pictures with words.”
Ghetts picked up the pioneer award at the 2024 MOBOs earlier this year. Pic: PA/ Danny Lawson
Postnatal depression and knife crime
In Jonah’s Safety, Ghetts raps: “I know this lady/ Diagnosed with postnatal depression/ She don’t wan hold her baby… Nobody knew that’s how she felt/ She had the smile that concealed it.” It’s an issue discussed openly much more than it was even just 10 years ago, but by women. It is refreshing to hear a male rapper taking it on.
“I heard the beat and the first two lines just came into my head almost instantly,” he tells us. It was a “massive” subject for a man to take on, he adds, “one that deserves research other than just my perspective”.
In Street Politics, he aims to give “a different perspective” to the headlines on youth knife crime, showing “somebody that was a straight-A student fall into a certain way of protecting himself due to fear… I believe it gives a different kind of understanding of why, maybe.”
Having spent time in prison as a teenager, he is aware things could have turned out differently in his own life. “Yeah, sometimes,” he responds, when asked how much he thinks about life’s turning points. “But it’s just testament, you know, to having a vision and living that vision. And being convicted in that vision as well.”
In another album track, Double Standards, the rapper calls out the “structural imbalance” in everything from racism, the justice system and technology, to the different ways he believes the world has reacted to the wars in Ukraine and Gaza.
Pic: Darkside Media
‘We shouldn’t be scared to ask for peace’
It’s about “the yin and yang”, he says. “A double standard of how people of the world are living in different countries and the punishments that differ also, the treatment that differs also. It’s that left, that right, that light, that dark, and everything in between.”
In the track, he raps: “I was on the phone with a pal of mine / they asked me why they’re helping Ukraine and not Palestine / And I’ve replied brown skin we was so whitewashed.”
In person, he says. “I think that peace is not too much to ask for. That’s what I believe… I think everything plays a part within these things – rich, poor, and so on. Not just race… but I go back to saying peace aint too much to ask for. That’s a powerful statement… we shouldn’t be scared to ask for peace.”
So it does seem political, despite his saying otherwise. In 2019, Ghetts endorsed Jeremy Corbyn “because I believe he’s a genuine person that wants to make things better”, but he doesn’t feel the same way about current Labour leader Keir Starmer. Voting at this moment in time, he says, would be “like voting for a lesser evil, I suppose… I don’t know”.
He also laments cancel culture and “fake rage” in his final track. “I think sometimes that lacks a lot of critical thinking of how we may have got to that point,” he says. “You know, it’s just a million voices in one place and reiterating the same thing over and over again, making it spread.”
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With Ghetts and his team ready to get to work, we leave it there. Given he had about 50 tracks in the mix for Conflict Of Interest and more that didn’t make the cut for On Purpose, With Purpose, plus his current work, it feels as if there must be a big vault of Ghetts music still waiting to be heard.
“Even though some of these tracks are very good standalone tracks, when they’re together they don’t sound like it’s a journey, it sounds pretty random,” he says. “So that’s the only reason why they don’t make it sometimes.”
Will his fans ever hear them?
“One day I want to do a big release,” he teases. “One day.”
Ghetts is performing in Birmingham, Manchester and London between 22 and 27 March. On Purpose, With Purpose is out now
Despite The Who’s Quadrophenia being set over 60 years ago, Pete Townshend’s themes of identity, mental health, and modern masculinity are just as relevant today.
The album is having a renaissance as Pete Townshend’s Quadrophenia A Mod ballet is being brought to life via dance at Sadler’s Wells East, and Sky News has an exclusive first look.
As Townshend puts it, the album he wrote is “perfect” for the stage.
Pete Townshend
“My wife Rachel did the orchestration for me, and as soon as I heard it I said to her it would make a fabulous ballet and we never really let that go,” he tells Sky News.
“Heavy percussion, concussive sequences. They’re explosive moments. They’re also romantic movement moments.”
If you identify with the demographics of Millennial, Gen Y or Gen Z, you might not be familiar with The Who and Mod culture.
But in post-war Britain the Mods were a cultural phenomenon characterised by fashion, music, and of course, scooters. The young rebels were seen as a counter-culture to the establishment and The Who, with Roger Daltry’s lead vocals and Pete Townshend’s writing, were the soundtrack.
Quadrophenia the album is widely regarded as an essay on the British adolescent experience at the time, focusing on the life of fictional protagonist Jimmy – a young Mod struggling with his sanity, self-doubt, and alienation.
Townshend sets the rock opera in 1965 but thinks its themes of identity, mental health, and modern masculinity are just as relevant today.
He says: “The phobias and the restrictions and the unwritten laws about how young men should behave. The ground that they broke, that we broke because I was a part of it.
“Men were letting go of [the] wartime-related, uniform-related stance that if I wear this kind of outfit it makes me look like a man.”
Paris Fitzpatrick and Pete Townshend. Pic: Johan Persson
This struggle of modern masculinity and identity appears to be echoing today as manosphere influencers like Andrew Tate, incel culture, and Netflix’s Adolescence make headlines.
For dancer Paris Fitzpatrick, who takes on the lead role of Jimmy, the story resonates.
Paris Fitzpatrick, who takes on the lead role of Jimmy in the ballet
“I think there’s a connection massively and I think there may even be a little more revival in some way,” he tells Sky News.
“I love that myself. I love non-conforming to gender norms and typical masculinity; I think it’s great to challenge things.”
Despite the album being written before he was born, the dancer says he was familiar with the genre already.
“I actually did an art GCSE project about Mods and rockers and Quadrophenia,” he says.
“I think we’ll be able to bring it to new audiences and hopefully, maybe people will be inspired to to learn more about their music and the whole cultural movement of the early 60s.”
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In 1979, the album was adapted into a film directed by Franc Roddam starring Ray Winstone and Sting but Townshend admits because the film missed key points he is “not a big fan”.
“What it turned out to be in the movie was a story about culture, about social scenario and less about really the specifics of mental illness and how that affects young people,” he adds, also complimenting Roddam’s writing for the film.
Perhaps a testament to Pete Townshend’s creativity, Quadrophenia started as an album, was successfully adapted to film and now it will hit the stage as a contemporary ballet.
It appears that over six decades later Mod culture is still cool and their issues still relatable.
Quadrophenia, a Mod Ballet will tour to Plymouth Theatre Royal from 28 May to 1 June 2025, Edinburgh Festival Theatre from 10 to 14 June 2025 and the Mayflower, Southampton from 18 to 21 June 2025 before having its official opening at Sadler’s Wells Theatre, London on 24 June running to 13 July 2025 and then visiting The Lowry, Salford from 15 to 19 July 2025.
Russell Brand has been charged with rape and two counts of sexual assault between 1999 and 2005.
The Metropolitan Police say the 50-year-old comedian, actor and author has also been charged with one count of oral rape and one count of indecent assault.
The charges relate to four women.
He is due to appear at Westminster Magistrates’ Court on Friday 2 May.
Police have said Brand is accused of raping a woman in the Bournemouth area in 1999 and indecently assaulting a woman in the Westminster area of London in 2001.
He is also accused of orally raping and sexually assaulting a woman in Westminster in 2004.
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Ashna Hurynag discusses Russell Brand’s charges
The fourth charge alleges that a woman was sexually assaulted in Westminster between 2004 and 2005.
Police began investigating Brand, from Oxfordshire, in September 2023 after receiving a number of allegations.
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The comedian has denied the accusations and said he has “never engaged in non-consensual activity”.
He added in a video on X: “Of course, I am now going to have the opportunity to defend these charges in court, and I’m incredibly grateful for that.”
Metropolitan Police Detective Superintendent Andy Furphy, who is leading the investigation, said: “The women who have made reports continue to receive support from specially trained officers.
“The Met’s investigation remains open and detectives ask anyone who has been affected by this case, or anyone who has any information, to come forward and speak with police.”
Tom Cruise has paid tribute to Val Kilmer, wishing his Top Gun co-star “well on the next journey”.
Cruise, speaking at the CinemaCon film event in Las Vegas on Thursday, asked for a moment’s silence to reflect on the “wonderful” times shared with the star, whom he called a “dear friend”.
Kilmer, who died of pneumonia on Tuesday aged 65, rocketed to fame starring alongside Cruise in the 1986 blockbuster Top Gun, playing Tom ‘Iceman’ Kazansky, a rival fighter pilot to Cruise’s character Maverick.
Tom Cruise said ‘I wish you well on the next journey’. Pic: AP
Val Kilmer in 2017. Pic: AP
His last part was a cameo role in the 2022 blockbuster sequel Top Gun: Maverick.
Cruise, on stage at Caesars Palace on Thursday, said: “I’d like to honour a dear friend of mine, Val Kilmer. I can’t tell you how much I admire his work, how grateful and honoured I was when he joined Top Gun and came back later for Top Gun: Maverick.
“I think it would be really nice if we could have a moment together because he loved movies and he gave a lot to all of us. Just kind of think about all the wonderful times that we had with him.
“I wish you well on the next journey.”
The moment of silence followed a string of tributes from Hollywood figures including Cher, Francis Ford Coppola, Antonio Banderas and Michelle Monaghan.
Kilmer’s daughter Mercedes told the New York Times on Wednesday that the actor had died from pneumonia.
Tom Cruise at Caesars Palace on Thursday. Pic: AP
Diagnosed with throat cancer in 2014, Kilmer discussed his illness and recovery in his 2020 memoir Your Huckleberry and Amazon Prime documentary Val.
He underwent radiation and chemotherapy treatments for the disease and also had a tracheostomy which damaged his vocal cords and permanently gave him a raspy speaking voice.
Kilmer played Batman in the 1995 film Batman Forever and received critical acclaim for his portrayal of rock singer Jim Morrison in the 1991 movie The Doors.
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He also starred in True Romance and Kiss Kiss Bang Bang, as well as playing criminal Chris Shiherlis in Michael Mann’s 1995 movie Heat and Doc Holliday in the 1993 film Tombstone.
In 1988 he married British actress Joanne Whalley, whom he met while working on fantasy adventure Willow.
The couple had two children before divorcing in 1996.
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