It’s a long while since Goldie Lookin Chain troubled UK culture – their big hit Guns Don’t Kill People, Rappers Do was released 20 years ago – but the Newport novelty hip-hop group are back, with a deceptively straightforward song about supermarket shopping.
For the comedy posse, a trip to their local discounter sparks something close to an existential crisis, as recounted in Middle of Lidl (out now).
“It’s a safe space, my happy place,” raps Billy Webb (aka Tim Westcountry), “where you can buy power tools, or a briefcase”. But the retail experience soon gets his mind spinning, leading to some metaphysical ponderings. “Like a double slit experiment to a photon, it’s a metaphor, when it’s gone it’s gone.”
His crew face similar awakenings. “I felt OK buying aubergines, but in the middle of Lidl I question what it all means,” raps Rhys Hutchings (aka Dwain Xain Zedong).
Despite their tongue-in-cheek presentation, GLC never shy from getting philosophical. Mike Balls has a verse about Descartes and how solipsism “blew my mind apart” drawing direct comparison to the fact he “went to Lidl for milk, and came out with some shoes”.
Not that the – incredibly catchy – song is exclusively cerebral. There are the plain facts put forward by Hutchings: “In Lidl the fun’s never stopping, ‘til I go to Asda and do the rest of my shopping”. It ultimately all gets a little too much “so I did all my shopping at the Baneswell Express”.
An infectious earworm you’ll be tapping out on the trolley on your next trip.
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