THE rap singer Ms Dynamite blamed the Government for youth violence yesterday.

The Mercury Award winning artist, launching the Stop the Violence campaign which is to tour universities, singled out Kim Howells, the Culture Minister, for his comments on rap music after the shootings in Aston, Birmingham, on New Year’s Eve. After the deaths of Letitia Shakespeare and Charlene Ellis, Dr Howells said that “macho idiot rappers” had created a culture in which killing was fashionable. Ms Dynamite, 21, said that his comments showed that the Government was not interested in black youth culture.

“It shows no one is listening, no one is understanding, and that no one cares,” she said. She said that the use of negative stereotypes of black musicians distracted from the real causes. “It’s so obvious that the problem is poverty. Young people have to live in crazy circumstances. Someone who does not live in those circumstances cannot judge because they don’t know what it is like.” She said that she would be happy to work with the Government if it was interested in what she had to say.

Dr Howells said: “No Government has ever paid as much attention to the welfare of young people. We have succeeded like no Government in bringing down youth unemployment and giving people the opportunity of having the dignity of paid employment.”

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