Darren McGarvey

FRSL The Royal Society of Literature (RSL) is a learned society founded in 1820 by George IV of the United Kingdom, King George IV to "reward literary merit and excite literary talent". A charity that represents the voice of literature in the UK, the ...

, who goes by the

stage name A stage name or professional name is a pseudonym used by performers, authors, and entertainers—such as actors, comedians, singers, and musicians. The equivalent concept among writers is called a ''nom de plume'' (pen name). Some performers ...

Loki, is a Scottish

rapper Rapping (also rhyming, flowing, spitting, emceeing, or MCing) is an artistic form of vocal delivery and emotive expression that incorporates "rhyme, rhythmic speech, and ommonlystreet vernacular". It is usually performed over a backing ...

and social commentator. He was an activist during the Scottish independence referendum in 2014. He is from a political and performance family: his aunt is the former

Member of the Scottish Parliament Member of the Scottish Parliament (MSP; ; ) is the title given to any one of the 129 individuals elected to serve in the Scottish Parliament. Electoral system The additional member system produces a form of proportional representation, where ...

(MSP) Rosie McGarvey Kane.

Career

McGarvey was brought up in

Pollok Pollok (, ) is a large housing estate on the south-western side of the city of Glasgow, Scotland. The estate was built either side of World War II to house families from the overcrowded inner city. Housing 30,000 at its peak, its population ha ...

on the south side of

Glasgow Glasgow is the Cities of Scotland, most populous city in Scotland, located on the banks of the River Clyde in Strathclyde, west central Scotland. It is the List of cities in the United Kingdom, third-most-populous city in the United Kingdom ...

, Scotland. Between 2004 and 2006, he wrote and presented eight programmes about the causes of anti-social behaviour and social deprivation for BBC Radio Scotland. McGarvey worked with youth organisation Volition, teaching young people to rap. In 2012 he led a workshop as part of a PowerRap competition for schools, encouraging young people to explore important issues through music and language. McGarvey studied journalism at Glasgow Clyde College. In 2009, he was part of the Poverty Truth Commission hosted in Glasgow. In 2015, he had six months as ''rapper-in-residence'' with the

Violence Reduction Unit The Scottish Violence Reduction Unit is a Police Scotland initiative established in January 2005 (by Strathclyde Police) which uses a public health approach to target all forms of violent behaviour including street/gang violence, domestic abuse, ...

. In April 2016, McGarvey appeared in a documentary '' The Divide'' discussing his alcoholism and its impact on his life. In October 2017, he claimed a lack of support for working class or deprived communities from

Creative Scotland Creative Scotland ( ; ) is the development body for the arts and creative industries in Scotland. Based in Edinburgh, it is an executive non-departmental public body of the Scottish Government The Scottish Government (, ) is the execut ...

, the main body that funds Scotland's arts companies and artists. He also admitted he had not tried to apply for Creative Scotland funds. Loki's ''Poverty Safari'' won the 2018

Orwell Prize The Orwell Prize is a British prize for political writing. The Prize is awarded by The Orwell Foundation, an independent charity (Registered Charity No 1161563, formerly "The Orwell Prize") governed by a board of trustees. Four prizes are award ...

for books, with the judges saying it "was 'exactly the book' that Orwell would have wanted to win". In December 2022, McGarvey gave a speech on "Freedom from Want" as one of four Reith Lectures for the BBC based on US President

Franklin D. Roosevelt Franklin Delano Roosevelt (January 30, 1882April 12, 1945), also known as FDR, was the 32nd president of the United States, serving from 1933 until his death in 1945. He is the longest-serving U.S. president, and the only one to have served ...

's "

Four Freedoms The Four Freedoms were goals articulated by U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt on Monday, January 6, 1941. In an address known as the Four Freedoms speech (technically the 1941 State of the Union address), he proposed four fundamental freed ...

" 1941 State of the Union address. In 2023, he was elected a Fellow of the

Royal Society of Literature The Royal Society of Literature (RSL) is a learned society founded in 1820 by King George IV to "reward literary merit and excite literary talent". A charity that represents the voice of literature in the UK, the RSL has about 800 Fellows, elect ...

Works

Discography

* ''Government Issue Music Protest (GIMP)'' (2014), a science-fiction concept album with significant contributions from singer-songwriter Becci Wallace which enjoyed some critical acclaim. The album describes a dystopian vision of Scotland in the year 2034. * ''Trigger Warning'' (2017), a concept album through which he attempts to explore various issues, expressed as a story.

Bibliography

* ''Poverty Safari: Understanding the Anger of Britain's Underclass'', Luath Press, 2017 ** in German: Transl. Klaus Berr, ''Armutssafari. Von der Wut der abgehängten Unterschicht.'' Luchterhand, Munich 2019 * ''The Social Distance Between Us: How Remote Politics Wrecked Britain'', Ebury Press, 2022

Television

* Darren McGarvey's Scotland –

BBC Scotland BBC Scotland is a division of the BBC and the main public broadcaster in Scotland. Its headquarters are in Glasgow, employing approximately 1,250 staff as of 2017, to produce 15,000 hours of television and radio programming per year. BBC Scotla ...

– Darren "Loki" McGarvey investigates the rise of poverty and inequality in Scotland * Darren McGarvey's Class Wars – BBC Scotland * Darren McGarvey's Addictions – BBC Scotland * Darren McGarvey: The State We’re In – BBC Scotland

References

External links

Review of Poverty Safari
{{DEFAULTSORT:Loki 1984 births Fellows of the Royal Society of Literature Living people Musicians from Glasgow Place of birth missing (living people) Scottish male rappers Scottish radio personalities Writers from Glasgow