Everyone’s been talking about LEX these past few days because of his concert in Thessaloniki. The same thing happened with his concert in Nea Smyrni a little while ago. Nothing unusual so far.
It’s impressive that an artist—ignored by the mainstream media, with no advertising or sponsors—can fill stadiums. Especially at his last concert, young people from all over the country made the trip to Thessaloniki.
But why has LEX come under fire from government supporters, and with such intensity?;
From high-profile pundits, who cross themselves in front of an icon of Kyriakos Mitsotakis before leaving the house, to the well-known trolls who were instructed to listen to hip-hop for the first time in their lives and take issue with the “lyrics of the margins.”.
Hip-hop has always been like this. It’s a shame that artists in the scene don’t talk about the problems of the elite or about which foreign bank some scion will do his internship at before padding his resume so he can rule over us.
The fact that LEX fills stadiums with thousands of young people who know his lyrics means that he expresses what they’re going through and their lived experience, is very different from the magical image of growth for the few, direct contracts, and a controlled public sphere.
The staff of current Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis has, ever since the days of the opposition, lived and breathed opinion polls and trends. That is why it seems to act quickly in various situations (monitoring and intervening), without, however, actually solving problems or planning for the future.
It counts, it manages, and the days in power pass. With elections approaching, what matters to it is the percentage of Greeks among those who vote that will give it a self-sufficient government (albeit a weak one). The remaining Greeks—the 60% of those who vote and all those who won’t go to the polls—are of no concern to her whatsoever.
The realization that, at a time when the ruling party would need buses from all over Greece filled with supporters who’d been rewarded with favors just to fill any stadium, an artist can achieve the same result with just his lyrics—this certainly raises concerns and questions among the data analysts at Maximos.
- Why are young people criticizing the prime minister who has done so much for them?;
- Why is it that, even though we think of them as zoning out on the couch with a cell phone, they travel just to listen to LEX?;
- Could it be that the statistics don't tell the whole story about what's happening in society?;
- What if some of them go out to vote? What would that mean for the election results?;
That last question is something the opposition will also have to answer.
It’s good to acknowledge the anger of young people, but if that anger isn’t met with concrete proposals for overcoming a bleak status quo and offering hope for a better future, it will either be channeled down dark paths, or on election Sunday, young people will simply go out for coffee and a swim again, listening to LEX.
Manos Choriopoulos
