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Glastonbury 2019: Banksy designed stab vest worn by Stormzy for historic headline set

In a post on Instagram, Banksy wrote: ‘I made a customised stab-proof vest and thought – who could possibly wear this? Stormzy at Glastonbury’

Clarisse Loughrey
Saturday 29 June 2019 10:44 EDT
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Stormzy performs Know Me From at Glastonbury

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The Union Jack-emblazoned stab vest worn by Stormzy during his headline slot at Glastonbury was designed by Banksy, the artist has revealed.

In a post on Instagram, Banksy wrote: “I made a customised stab-proof vest and thought – who could possibly wear this? Stormzy at Glastonbury.”

Stormzy shared the post on Twitter, adding the caption: ”Absolutely f****** speechless.”

The 25-year-old rapper said his headline slot on the Pyramid Stage on Friday was “the greatest night of my entire life”.

The set, which aired live on the BBC, saw the crowd chant along to the words “F**k Boris”, in reference to Boris Johnson, the frontrunner to succeed Theresa May as the prime minister of the UK.

The statement is part of the lyrics to the rapper’s track “Vossi Bop”, released in April of this year, which sees him declare: “I’ll never die, I’m Chuck Norris/F**k the government and f**k Boris”.

It was one of the few overtly political statements of the set, although The Independent‘s Jazz Monroe wrote: “But to look for outright polemic misses the point. From the disarming ballet suite to footage of grainy street spats on the video screen, the set seeks to erase the binary between those people of colour deemed, by the ruling class, to be acceptable and those not.”
“Some illustrious guests (Dave and Fredo also feature) and a buttoned-up live band can’t hide that this set was pure, uncompromising Stormzy – a grime masterclass from an astonishingly versatile performer who, it seems, can do anything he pleases.”
Glastonbury continues today with sets from Janet Jackson, Johnny Marr, Chemical Brothers, Maggie Rogers, Lewis Capaldi, Liam Gallagher, and The Killers.
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