This article exists as part of the online archive for HuffPost Australia, which closed in 2021.

Q&A Was Almost Over But Kate Tempest Had Everyone Tuning In

Some say even dropping truth bombs.
Kate Tempest on the ABC's Q&A
Q&A
Kate Tempest on the ABC's Q&A

She had already drawn applause from the room after labelling capitalist societies such as Australia "diabolical regimes", but it was Kate Tempest's spoken word delivery that made her mark on Monday night's Q&A.

The British rapper and poet delivered her poem 'Progress' to the audience after the Q&A panel discussion was over; her musings had the room silent, but Twitter in overdrive.

Touching on religion, materialism, body image, and the everyday struggle for youth in the twenty-first century to find their place in the world, Tempest's art was in her delivery. And don't worry, you can watch right here:

Some of the best lines bringing the performance home include:

  • "They used to burn women who had epileptic fits, they'd tie you to a stake and they'd proclaim you a witch. Now they'll put you on the screen if you've got nice t*ts but you will be torn apart if you let yourself slip, and they'll draw red rings around your saggy bits."
  • "Now you're handed the mould and told fit into this and one day you could really be big."
  • "The world is your playground, go and get your kicks as long as you're not poor or ugly or sick. We never saw it coming just like all the best tricks because, yes, once we had the fear but now we have the fix."

Tempest was on the panel discussing the complexities around religion, war and free speech.

During the panel's discussion about what the Western world can do about "diabolical" regimes in the Middle East, Tempest turned the conversation on its head, delivering a damning indictment of Western capitalism -- which, she believes, is especially detrimental for young people.

"There is an equally diabolical regime in power which is the neoliberal regime of capitalism which is controlling - oppressing its people," Tempest told the room.

"You talk about the terrible regimes where young people can't work; well, that's Britain.

"This whole society, this whole web of the acceptable diabolical regime which is swallowing the globe, eating up resources, it's making people ill with anxieties and there is an awful, awful kind of interplay here between what we think of as an acceptable evil and a kind of non-acceptable evil.

"We can spot barbarity in other cultures and in our past but when it's in our midst we find it harder to accept and own up to it. We are in the middle of a barbarous time and greed is at the root of it."

Here it is in its entirety.

While not everyone on the internet were Tempest fans (shocking, we know) the majority ruled in favour of the performance.

Close
This article exists as part of the online archive for HuffPost Australia. Certain site features have been disabled. If you have questions or concerns, please check our FAQ or contact support@huffpost.com.