Glastonbury 2019: Boris Johnson jokes that Stormzy’s chant was ‘Back Boris’ instead of ‘F**k Boris’

The statement is part of the lyrics to the rapper’s track ‘Vossi Bop’, released in April of this year

Boris Johnson jokingly claimed that the chant of “F**k Boris” that echoed across the Glastonbury stage during Stormzy‘s set was actually “Back Boris”.

The rapper’s set, which aired live on the BBC, saw the crowd chant along to the words “F**k Boris”, in reference to Johnson, the frontrunner to succeed Theresa May as the prime minister of the UK.

The statement is part of the lyrics to the rapper’s track “Vossi Bop”, released in April of this year, which sees him declare: “I’ll never die, I’m Chuck Norris/F**k the government and f**k Boris”.

Speaking after the Conservative Party’s leadership hustings in Carlisle, Mr Johnson joked that Stormzy was “thoroughly on message” and claimed he was actually singing “back Boris” – his campaign slogan.

Asked by about the performance, Johnson told PA: “I want to pay tribute to Stormzy –I am a great enthusiast and admirer of Mr Stormzy’s works and I think he’s one of the great lyricists and poets of our time.”

“And I want to thank him for his rousing endorsement of the Back Boris campaign. Back Boris I think was what he said and there may have been some problem with the acoustics that caused him to be briefly misunderstood, but Stormzy seems to me to be thoroughly on message.”

Stormzy is known for utilising his live performances as a stage for political protest, including his memorable freestyle rap during last year’s Brit Awards, in which he condemned Theresa May for her response to the Grenfell tragedy.

“Yo Theresa May, where’s the money for Grenfell?” he asked. “What, you thought we just forgot about Grenfell? You criminals and you’ve got the cheek to call us savages/ You should do some jail time, you should pay some damages/ You should burn your house down and see if you can manage this.”