Eisteddfod under fire after rapper prevented from performing over Welsh language policy
A Welsh musician has said he won’t be performing at this years’ National Eisteddfod after being told there was too much English in his songs.
Rapper Sage Todz, who has been credited with spreading the use of the Welsh language and opening it up to new audiences, posted a Tweet in which he announced he would not be performing at the Eisteddfod’s music festival Maes B or the Eisteddfod itself this year due to the organisation’s Welsh language policy.
He posted: ‘For anyone wondering, I won’t be performing at Maes B or Eisteddfod this year due to the Welsh language policy they have in place.
*Essentially there’s too much English in my songs’
For anyone wondering, I won't be performing at Maes B or Eisteddfod this year due to the Welsh language policy they have in place.
*Essentially there's too much English in my songs 🤷🏾♂️— Sage Todz (@SageTodz) June 8, 2023
Since posting the tweet the musician who came to prominence last year with his reworked version of Dafydd Iwan’s Yma o Hyd in conjunction with the Football Association of Wales, has been inundated with support from users of the social media platform, who were critical of the Eisteddfod’s decision.
Michael Richards wrote: ‘Sage is on the front line of taking Cymraeg to new people and places. This is hugely shortsighted from the Eisteddfod.’
Lauren✜⁷ said: ‘How are we supposed to get to 1mil Welsh speakers when the Eisteddfod do stuff like this… If I was a welsh learner I’d be so discouraged to take part.’
Milo Davis added: ‘Absolutely ridiculous man, you were my introduction into Welsh language music. Killing off the bridge builders.’
Another site user posted: Painfully short-sighted from the festival organisers. You’ve done so much to help legitimise Welsh-language music that isn’t jangly guitar indie angst but apparently celebrating the depth and breadth of Welsh music is just lip service to them.’
However, one Twitter user Byron Holmes challenged the rapper over his stance. He wrote: ‘Then the remedy lies with you. Abide by the rules, adjust your repertoire.’
In response Sage Todz replied: ‘I’m not protesting, simply letting people know why I won’t be there. My songs are finished products, not subject to change.’
The National Eisteddfod have issued a response in which they state they had extensive discussions with the rapper, offering him several opportunities to perform in Welsh at this year’s Eisteddfod, to be held in Boduan in August.
A spokesperson said: “Singing bilingually and in English are integral to Sage Todz’s principles, just as our language rule is integral to us as a festival and organisation. He was offered several opportunities to perform in Welsh at this year’s Eisteddfod, including taking a leading role in a major event to close the festival which was a commission to create new songs in Welsh.
“We discussed our language rule at length with Sage Todz, and we respect the fact that he is a bilingual artist, and that his decision is to adhere to his principles and continue to create bilingual and English music.”
The last time a similar incident occurred was back in the ’90s when Super Furry Animals played a controversial gig at the National Eisteddfod in Llandeilo in 1996.
When told they couldn’t sing in English and that only Welsh could be spoken on stage, the band printed the lyrics for the audience and whistled the melodies while they performed.
Speaking last year about the importance of Welsh culture and his use of the Welsh language, Sage Todz said: “Welsh culture means a lot to me as an artist. I obviously speak Welsh and do so in my day-to-day life, so I feel it is only natural for me to share our language in the music I make.
“I’m really glad to continue to bring the Welsh language into a more modern context and show that Cymraeg can translate to a different vibe of music from what it is used to being applied to.”
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Yes, it’s a shame. Yes, it’s a ridiculous situation.
The Eisteddfod is the only large monolingual Welsh language festival in the world. Some people want to introduce the English language.
We understand why. We understand the frustration.
Coldplay seemed to use a bit of Welsh this week. Maybe they should play the Eisteddfod too?
There’s a line. Simples.
The eisteddfod have a Welsh lang policy. Everybody knows this., he is not being excluded as he is a Welsh speaker. If he is a decent performer he can translate after all he is a stryd poet . So rather than creating about nothing get creating about something in Welsh with your matez …see if I can do it …..gelli di . And considering he has performed with Dafydd you would think he would have been inspired to perform yn y Gymraeg efallai?
The rule is the rule. Twas ever thus, and hopefully will always be. Suck it up.
The Eisteddfod is a celebration of the Welsh language. How about not demonising the organisation / creating headlines / an us and them situation and try writing in Cymraeg?
100% agree with the policy. The English language already helps you perform virtually anywhere. Whereas British does not! Yet again, we see the dominant language, and those who speak it act like it’s the victim of a sustained attack against it. Where in fact it’s the reverse.
Anglo Brits love a spot of victimhood as it fits in with their assimilation plans for us minority tribes. Shame that Sage hasn’t yet spotted this and stepped further into struggle to defend and promote our minority, especially as he’s got a heritage that should enable him to grasp the fundamentals of the situation.
Indeed, I had responded to you before where I mentioned it’s the same in Korea and their love for Anglos, while not realising their relations with Japan are similar to those of England and Wales. But for some reason it wasn’t acceptable.
Why did they hold the National in Liverpool?
Might be because-
There were a lot of ex-pat Cymry living there making it a viable option as a venue.
Financial support from ex-pat community and/or Liverpool city.
Influence by those with Liverpool connections within Eisteddfod organisation.
An ambition to show off/legitimise Welsh culture outside Cymru.
Lack of alternative venue in Cymru.
The last time the Eisteddfod was held in Liverpool was 1929 so whatever the reasons were then conditions and considerations have been different for many decades.
Plus, a lot of Liverpool people were, and still are, partly of Welsh heritage.
The ‘Welsh’ built Liverpool…
For London see ‘Y Cymmrodorian’…
His music is valid and contributes to the wider welsh music scene, but with that said where should the line be drawn?
It has to be drawn somewhere otherwise it’ll be turned into just another festival, with a token amount of Welsh used in order to participate in the main events.
Regarding Rapper Sage Todz not being able to perform at the National Eisteddfod. Although I’m sympathetic with his plight, the Eisteddfod although open to all whatever language you speak, is after all a festival that celebrates the Welsh language & culture. I only wish this could have been dealt better by organisers. May I suggest he (Todz) use another avenue to spread his positive message more further afield? Perhaps he could appear at the International Eisteddfod in Llangollen where all languages & cultures are celebrated, including English, where he could perform and connect with the youth of the world. At… Read more »
He’ll be at Tafwyl, can’t wait to see him, he’s a great rappper. Just like when the Eisteddfod told the welsh football team to do one, a few years back!
Sorry, he’s not great but sub par – and only came on the scene when he released a trap-rap that was partly in Cymraeg [where he had one verse… one…]. He’s just boosting his profile and not realising he’s shooting himself in the foot for acting so entitled, like Gemma Collins – both of them can get in the sea for all I care. How dare he bring the Eisteddfod into disrupte for his own clout chasing, what an English thing to do.
According to the article there were extensive discussions between the artist and the organisers and several alternatives were offered however the artist was not prepared to compromise. Short of abandoning the Welsh language policy, which is the whole ethos of the Eisteddfod, I fail to see what else the organisers could have done to accommodate the artist.
I have mass respect for him but Eisteddfod did the right desicions. It’s a Welsh-language festival for a reason.
I agree with the decision. But, I wonder if there is a tiny hint of hypocrisy here, as novels have won main prizes in the National Eisteddfod despite including English dialogue. Such was the case with the Daniel Owen prize last year, with one of the adjudicators reluctant to award the prize due to “gormod o ddefnydd o Saesneg.”
I think its a shame, but I can see the Eisteddfod’s point, there’s a potential for a slippery slope, where you allow bilingual songs and then eventually you could get songs entirely in English with a token word or two of Cymraeg.
Rapper under fire after refusing to recognise Eisteddfod Welsh language policy – there, fixed it for you.
I went for a teaching job on Anglesey . The bi- lingual school asked me to teach the science lesson through the medium of English of which I was quite happy to do . But when it came to the interview stage with the headmaster and governors and other members of the interview panel they refused to speak to me in English , after I stated I would feel more comfortable in conducting myself through the medium of English . My Welsh ability is about a Level 3 I can read and write as well in Welsh to a Level… Read more »
So despite your level 3 Welsh you feel marginalised and cite your Welsh DNA mix to justify your ire, what about the children you would have been teaching ? It is fair to say some would be Welsh 1st language, would you have been able to support those children fully through the medium of Welsh or would you have to defer to another teacheror revert to English for your benefit but not theirs ? The racism question arises not in your favour at all, rather the reverse towards Children in a Welsh speaking community not being able to receive education… Read more »
You show your bias by calling our Parliament an Assembly. England is that way >>>
What’ prescription is he on?
I detect more than a hint of exceptionalism on his part.
Now that’s what I call a missed opportunity to promote the Welsh language. My African husband teaches Welsh in college in Wales and hes a gifted rapper too. This musician is trying to help non Welsh speakers understand the meaning of his songs by introducing English words which is more widely spoken and interjecting it with mostly Welsh. I a non Welsh speaker understood and appreciated the message of his song AND loved to listen to the Welsh language rapped so beautifully in this song. SAD he won’t perform.
I’m not familiar with Sage Todz’s work but from how you describe it sounds like a good way of introducing and promoting Welsh to those who don’t speak the language.
However the audience at the Eisteddfod is at the very least familiar with the Welsh language and are positive about it. So a performance by an artist including a bit of Welsh in it to introduce and promote the language isn’t really necessary.
The Eisteddfod Genedlaethol has had a Cymraeg only rule for participants since the 1950s in recognition of the marginalised status of Cymraeg. It’s the same rule for everyone, and whilst there might be something laudible in singing bilingual songs, those who are serious about learning Cymraeg, as I was in the mid 1980s, will have no difficulty in sitting down with a song’s lyrics and laboriously translating them with the help of a dictionary – or. given the existence of the internet, using Google Translate or one of the plethora of other machine translation applications available online.
Well Sage Todz – thats one way to lose yourself a fan. I knew you were clout chasing when you did a rap in Cymraeg, now I just know you’re after Welsh language crowd clout: you just burned all your bridges. Da iawn twp.
When it was announced that Ceredigion was to host the Eisteddfod in 2020, I was overjoyed and wanted to help as much as I could, however when I arrived at the first community meeting and was told that as the Eisteddfod was a Welsh language only area, all conversations would be through the medium of Welsh to which I said, very politely, “That’s not fair, I cannot speak a word of Welsh through being neurodivergent, that policy says “Thank you for living in Wales, we’ll take your money but will not recognise you!” and makes me think is that why… Read more »
If the learning of a second language is problematic for you then perhaps explore ways to immerse yourself in things Welsh that do not need you to have the ability to speak the Welsh language.
There are plenty of opportunities for this and it would hopefully make you feel wanted and just as important not pressurise others to stop working in Welsh in order to accommodate you.
It’s all about you, isn’t it Harry?
How did you expect to “help as much as I could” for a Welsh language festival if you don’t even speak Welsh! I learned Welsh as an adult and went to a meeting in Llangadog about the recent Urdd Eisteddfod in Llandovery. I expected the meeting to be conducted in Welsh and engaged in the conversation in Welsh, because that is what it is about. The language is not a special performance to celebrate our culture, it is a living language we use at home, on the street, in church, in the pub and the chippy. Everywhere, achos ydyn ni’n… Read more »
Ffon twp! Sorri am y typo ydyn ni’n byw yng Nghymru 🙂
You seem to be both fluent and articulate in English so your claim that being neurodivergent prevents you learning another language seems to me a little far fetched. The fact that you are so articulate is actually more likely to put you at a disadvantage when learning Cymraeg (and I know what I’m talking about). Many people seriously underestimate exactly how much there is in learning a language, but fortunately achieving a basic conversational level isn’t too hard, and shouldn’t take more than a few months of fairly intense lessons and practice out in the community. I suspect that had… Read more »