Who’d want to go see Stormzy abroad? Why would you want to hear him rap and sing in a different language? That’s how it works, right?
Not exactly. In fact, not at all. However, one fan unfortunately didn’t quite realise audiences in countries that don’t speak English will still happily listen to songs sung in English.
Korah Burgis-Barr, for example, was discussing getting tickets to see Stormzy (who sings and raps in English) with her partner. When the possibility of visiting Amsterdam to do so was raised, however, she wasn’t as keen.
A trip abroad did seem fun, though the 24-year-old did raise a curious caveat to the trip.
Korah wrote:
Only issue with going to see him in Amsterdam is we wouldn’t understand what he is singing… like we would recognise his tunes, just won’t be able to sing along. Neither of us know Dutch.
She soon realised her error. Messages back and forth soon taught her that just because he’s doing a world tour, doesn’t mean he’s learning the language for each country. While she initially wondered: ‘How do they understand him?’, she now knows the reality.
If you’ve never been to see an artist abroad, it’s a fair mistake to make. For Korah, it really was just as simple as that.
Korah told UNILAD:
It was just I’d only ever been to see artists in the UK… and didn’t get why my partner wanted to go abroad.
Thankfully, Korah and her partner managed to bag some tickets to see Stormzy in Amsterdam. When asked if she’d be learning some Dutch for the trip, she laughed, saying: ‘Apparently I don’t need to.’
Although, she’s not been let completely off the hook – the performer himself caught sight of the tweet, retweeting it and writing: ‘Lmao wtf.’
Stormzy’s response has been stirring up hilarity among his followers, already amassing more than 24,000 likes and nearly 2,000 retweets.
Replying to the retweet, one follower wrote: ‘You’re gonna need to learn Dutch big man.’ Another wrote: ‘Does this mean you won’t be singing in a Brummie accent in Birmingham? I want my money back.’
As one user pointed out: ‘Imagine your favourite artist speaking 25 different languages.’ Another fan even offered a translation, writing: ‘Not sure Nicht meine Bruder wir gerade Vossi Bop has the same ring to it.’
As Stormzy fans descend upon Amsterdam, you’ll no doubt hear the echoing chants: ‘Je wordt veel te groot voor je laarzen.’
If you have a story you want to tell send it to UNILAD via story@unilad.com
After graduating from Glasgow Caledonian University with an NCTJ and BCTJ-accredited Multimedia Journalism degree, Cameron ventured into the world of print journalism at The National, while also working as a freelance film journalist on the side, becoming an accredited Rotten Tomatoes critic in the process. He’s now left his Scottish homelands and took up residence at UNILAD as a journalist.