Greece amazed by success of rapper Lex
Last Sunday, 25,000 people gathered in Athens for a live performance by popular rapper Lex from Thessaloniki. Contrary to general practice in the music industry Lex doesn't use marketing, but his texts about societal problems are still a big hit. The Greek press discusses his success.
Mainstream not the only key to success
The web portal Protagon.gr comments:
“Lex doesn't even give interviews and his live performances are few and far between. His lyrics are about the economic crisis and the general crisis of society, about social inequalities, racial discrimination, poverty, violence and taboos. ... In a society used to the idea that success and fame can only be achieved with incessant advertising, panels, gossip and clickbait headlines, people like Lex prove that the path to a big breakthrough is not a one-way street of commercialism and mainstream.”
Lost in a precarious world
Lex is not trying to bring about a revolution, writes the daily Kathimerini:
“He says to young people: 'Don't expect wisdom [from me]'. Start the revolution without me. And it is this unheroic honesty - along with a tone that exudes more existential resignation than desire for chaos and upheaval - and that makes the more mature Lex truly fascinating. The rapper's brand emblem is a boy climbing over a fence. It looks like he's about to jump over the fence. But he could also be frozen in mid-air, floating. It's unclear. A child of the so-called precariat. 'I don't know how to keep myself safe', says Lex. And who really knows? The whole world has become "precarious". But this is not a revolution. It's perplexity.”