Although he had been selected to sing the Red Devils’ anthem in 2018, only to be dismissed shortly after for lyrics deemed misogynistic, Damso denounces the Belgian Football Federation’s handling, which he says is more lenient toward Roméo Elvis. Roméo Elvis had acknowledged committing a sexual assault in 2020 and has just signed “Kiss The Grass (Allez Allez)” with Sylvie Kreusch, the official anthem of the Red Devils.
Two weights, two measures? On April 29, a song performed by Roméo Elvis and Sylvie Kreusch was released and became the official anthem of the Red Devils—the Belgian national football team—for the World Cup slated for this summer. Entitled Kiss The Grass (Allez Allez), this track aims to symbolically unite the Flemish (north) and Walloon (south) regions of the country, the Belgian rapper hailing from Brussels-Capital and the singer from Antwerp. It also seems to pay homage to Allez Allez, a funk group of which the rapper’s father Marka played a role in the 1980s.
Yet this announcement quickly sparked unease in the music scene and among public opinion, in light of the sexual assault accusations directed at Roméo Elvis in 2020. He had indeed acknowledged having committed inappropriate acts. While a young woman wrote on his Instagram account that she had been “sexually assaulted” by the rapper, punctuating her message with the hashtag “#balancetonrappeur,” he publicly stated that he “sincerely regrets this act.” “I am not proud of this situation and hope to set an example not to follow,” he added.
Damso, Not Treated the Same under “Systemic Racism”?
A situation that outraged Damso, who had been entrusted with delivering Belgium’s World Cup anthem in 2018… Before being dismissed shortly afterward, certain lines of his songs having been deemed misogynistic following numerous alerts from feminist associations (“You sleep with me, you sleep with others. Even if I do the same, it’s not the same,” for instance).
According to the Belgo-Congolese rapper, this discrepancy in treatment between Roméo Elvis and himself points to “systemic racism.” “Let me tell you something, to those whom you call ‘people of color’,” he wrote. “You will have to become stronger. Systemic racism exists, we know it. But to think it will disappear because we denounce it endlessly would be naïve.” He added, with a bitter tone: “The anthem only confirms what I have thought for a long time: we must build our own structures and gradually step out of the schemes in which we will never be able to decide.”
Indulgence with Variable Geometry
Reached by the Belgian media RTBF, the Belgian Football Federation attempted to quell the controversy, albeit clumsily. “Regarding Roméo Elvis, we considered that he publicly acknowledged the mistakes made in the past and accepted the consequences that followed. Since then, he has continued his journey with transparency and has gradually rebuilt himself on a personal and artistic level,” stated the Federation’s representatives.
Meanwhile, whether Roméo Elvis participates or not, Kiss The Grass (Allez Allez) does not seem to be finding the audience hoped for. “It’s going to be difficult to sing in the stands,” laments one internet user, while another hopes “our players will be much more energetic than this song.”
