Appropriation of the British Working Class Aesthetic

Since the days of Thatcher in the 80’s, the British working class has constantly been loosing it’s battle for survival. From the closure of so many traditionally working class industries, to the cost of living not being matched to low paid jobs, to the straining of housing policies - lower income families are left fighting for crumbs. Conservative party policies like these are huge factors that have caused the growing gap between the UK’s rich and poor, not just in terms of wealth but also culture.

Much of the British press in the 00’s saw constant demonisation towards the poor and “chav” culture, so it is interesting to observe how the last few years have seen the British working class aesthetic being glorified by boys and girls from traditionally middle/upper-middle class homes. Not to say they cannot embrace other forms of cultures, but there is a notable difference between naturally adopting new vocabulary, listening to new types of music, and dressing how your new friends dress up. As opposed to when this is quickly and forcefully adopted, only to match the ways of one’s favourite Instagrammers, TikTokers and Youtubers (that itself is a problem too).

This trend is no doubt synonymous to the rising popularity of the UK’s genres of music deeprooted within the British working class. Drum and Bass, Bassline, Grime, Drill and UK Rap are now loved by people whose older cousins were possibly not exposed to at all. These genres have been living in cities and large towns across the UK for years. Cities such as London, Birmingham, Manchester and Bristol have notable had a strong identity for Rave and Black music. More people choosing to move out their small towns, more people choosing to go to University, more people being exposed to the wider world via social media, and overall Urbanisation are contributing reasons for this trend.

Black Britishness, multiculturalism and nightclub culture lives in our cities. Naturally as more people move into these areas, more people become exposed to it. Equally, as London becomes more expensive, more middle-level earners are choosing to live in traditionally working class areas.

I guess the trend is inevitable but it is frustrating. Especially when during your whole life, you’ve been told that the way you talk is inappropriate, from as a child at school to as an adult at the workplace. Like being told to pronounce our T’s when saying words like water. Why do we need to change our choice of words and pronunciation? This is how we speak. We’re not speaking a foreign language, infact more people speak like us than like them (the ruling class). Yet why is the way we naturally speak considered improper.

Even with the way we dress, black Air Force 1’s, big hoop earrings and even grey tracksuit bottoms, now it’s cool but only because popular culture says so. And the exact same with our music.

This article was inspired by a two-part video series by Jordan Theresa on the working class which I most definitely recommend checking out. I’ll end it with a quote that stuck with me, “you’re dipping your toes into the working class struggle when you feel like it, and then as soon as you’re bored of it, you just resume your middle class privileges tory voting life”.