Two weekends ago, a riot in Tottenham followed a peaceful protest over the police shooting of Mark Duggan. The violence escalated in the streets of London and soon spread to other cities around the British country. The spectators looked in shock as young British people acted out in complete anarchy.

As England deals with the aftermath of the worst street riots in decades, musicians react on London riots on Twitter. Musicians M.I.A., Franz Ferdinand’s Alex Kapranos, Example and many others, made statements about the situation on their personal Twitter accounts.

Kapranos, the lead singer and the guitarist of the Glasgow band Franz Ferdinand, asked the Prime Minister to do something about all these riots and widespread looting. He said, “Where the fuck are the Bullingdon boys? What’s wrong you cunts? Would you only end your holidays if it were Fortnum & Mason being looted?”

M.I.A brewed contention with a riot-sympathizing tweet “I’m going down to the riots to hand out tea and mars bars.”

Example, with humor and frustration said, “All these Nandos on fire? That’s some over cooked chicken wings. Pull the army of Afghanistan and stop all this bullshit now please,” before adding, “If you’re gonna set fire to any house in London please make it the Big Brother house.”

Moreover, as Spinner previously reported, a Sony warehouse where thousands of records were stored for many indie labels was burned to the ground (on Tuesday 9 Aug), undoubtedly affecting independent music throughout Europe.

“What music fans can do to show their support for the indie label community, and help them survive this disaster is to buy a digital download of an album from any one of the digital retailers in the UK, as well as going to their local record store while stocks last,” the Association of Independent Music has stated in a press release (via NME).

In the face of continuing violence several artists have now taken to the streets in an effort to help clean up London. ”At the Bethnal Green clean up, nice to see so many people ready to help in the community!” pop songstress Kate Nash tweeted about helping out.

Scroobius Pip, poet and musician, simply posted, “This is Britain punching itself in the face. Repeatedly”

The fact is that many theories have been posited about the underlying causes of the riots in England — from moral decay to excessive consumerism. According to criminologists, the reasons for the riots are many, including social exclusion, welfare dependence, spending cuts, weak policing, racism and opportunism.

The situation in England has been reflected in foreign publications, from Europe, Asia, Middle East, U.S. to Africa, all of which try to explain what exactly happened in the streets of London and other cities, and why. Anthony Daniels in the New York Daily News said:

“The riots in London and elsewhere in England have confirmed what I long knew and have long preached to my disbelieving but totally unobservant countrymen: that young British people are among the most unpleasant and potentially violent young people in the world.”

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