T8PES - REBEL WITH A CAUSE
Updated: Mar 14, 2021
T8PES - Burn The System - YouTube (2021)
The power behind the T8PES throne is Jimmy Davis, a legend in the Birmingham music scene, who has performed on huge stages like Shepherds Bush Empire, Brixton Academy and three times at Glastonbury. If you’re looking for an artist who really means it, Jimmy Davis is your man. But don’t take our word for it - ask Ed Sheeran:
“There are certain people who have inspired and influenced me as an artist and Jimmy Davis (T8PES) is one of them. A great songwriter, lyricist and performer who writes deeply personal songs and confronts important issues through his music”.
T8PES, pronounced tapes, is nothing if not authentic. Social justice takes top spot in his list of lyrical priorities in the fine tradition of protest singers like Billy Bragg and the hip-hop pioneers who gifted him his genre of choice. For new single Burn The System, T8PES has recruited Matt Doyle of Kioko and reggae powerhouse Myki Tuff to the cause, and the trio take on capitalism, racism and injustice in four flame-grilled and factious minutes over a haunting reggae soundscape that brings to mind Signing Off-era UB40 at their radical best. The song dedicates itself in the lyrics to “all those who are homeless and hungry, out on the streets of a rich western country” and was appropriately released to coincide with World Day of Social Justice on Saturday, February 20th.
T8PES says: “Burn The System calls for metaphorically setting fire to the poisonous constructs of our system - capitalism, inequality, racism, classism, environmental destruction and constant consumerism - to burn these things down in our minds and create a fairer, more just world from the ashes. But also to act; to stand for what is right for both people and planet.”
Never sit down James.
Link to T8PES playlists