About five years ago, a single word began to emerge in England. It described a group of people who were becoming increasingly visible in the unavoidably class-focused UK. That word is “chav”, an overall negative manifestation of working class culture, not unlike the “cockney” of the 1960s. A chav is typified by clothing inspired by American hip hop, a lack of education, penchant for deviant behaviour, and a slang and profanity-heavy style of speaking. In the years since, the chav has been parodied and celebrated in comedy (The Ali G Show and Little Britain) and the tabloids (glamour model Jordan, Big Brother contestant Jade Goody and lottery winner Michael Carroll).
Perhaps the most significant and lingering impact of the rise of the chav is in music. Being considered a chav means you’re a rude, uneducated, obnoxious young person celebrating the worst aspects of the pseudo-street culture of American hip hop. It’s not something most people would celebrate about themselves, but there’s always the exception. In Britain’s popular music history, a vast wealth of bands claim working class roots, whether they actually have them or not and in the Western world, having had a not-so-privileged upbringing gives an artist in all mediums a certain “cool”, “edge” and “worldliness”.
The Welsh group Goldie Lookin Chain is the most obvious example of a band utilizing the chav trend, with their name taken from the heavy gold jewellery (often imitation) popular with chavs, a hip hop-style sound and cheeky songs such as “Guns Don’t Kill People, Rappers Do”, “You Knows I Loves You” and “Your Missus Is A Nutter”. Goldie Lookin Chain is an act that blurs the line between satire and reality, courts controversy and celebrates their stoner attitude, while in fact it’s largely an act.
As with most youth/street cultures that garner the attention of the media such as punk, grunge and mod, chav has morphed into a stereotypical, easily signified classification. Anyone wearing sportswear and speaking in slang might be considered a chav for example and the culture has become so superficial it’s become more negative than ever. Being considered a chav is now more of an insult than ever. Often lumped in with the chav movement is the diminutive rapper Lady Sovereign, a hip hop artist who dresses in baggy sportswear and trainers, grew up in the rough neighbourhood of Chalkhill Estate in north London, and uses distinctively working class slang and speaking style. She, however, balks at the chav association and has called out other artists for trying to be working class when they’re not.
Also mentioned in the same reference as chav but in actuality fitting more of a “yobbo” image is the artist The Streets. Mike Skinner (AKA The Streets) has also courted the chav image with his vocal stylings, public persona and song lyrics but his career had achieved a level of respect and critical acclaim within the industry that suggests that the chav trend may be using him more than he uses them. Skinner touts the part of his youth spent growing up in the tough Northern city of Birmingham and performs in an inimitable speaking-singing style using plenty of profanity and slang and is known for songs such as “You’re Fit But You Know It”, “Don’t Mug Yourself” and “When You Wasn’t Famous”. His music is broadly-influenced but he’s considered a hip-hop artist and certainly exhibits plenty of bravado and attitude. However his take on the genre is countered with conversational honesty and humour and you can hear not only hip hip but a blend of punk, reggae, ska and electro on his albums.
Daughter of yobbo character actor Keith Allen and famously called out by Lady Sovereign for courting the chav image is the scrappy and immensely popular Lily Allen. Her debut album was released in the summer of 2006 after she managed to garner a lot of attention on MySpace with her songs. She was quickly criticized for encouraging the idea that she’s working class with her confessional lyrics, street fashion style, heavily accented song performances, and delinquent behaviour. Similar to The Streets, Allen has found success with her speaking-singing style, blend of musical genres, playfully confessional songs and often bratty attitude.
It’s become apparent that the media will continue to typify the chav culture in whatever they consider to be dumb or dumbed-down, oversimplified, street-influenced or street-suggestive. Authentic chav or not, it seems to be well-worth an artist’s time to court the idea.
