Paolo Nutini: Hate racism, love the sound of your own voice

Curiously, trying to talk about why he's joined Rock Against Racism, Paolo Nutini gets lost in an anecdote about how he knows someone who knows someone who knows Bob Marley quite well:

I was lucky enough to sit down and have a chat with Chris Blackwell, president of Island Records, who signed Bob Marley.

"He told me he took Bob Marley to see a small bill of Island artists - John Martyn, Traffic and Free - before any of them had had a hit.

"And he said John Martyn changed his perspective entirely. Music's colour-blind. RoAR is a step in the right direction to raising awareness about the need to eradicate racism."

Is it just us being a bit slow? Is Paolo saying that it wasn't until reggae fan Chris Blackwell took Bob Marley to a gig that he realised racism was wrong? Does that make any sense?

Paolo continues, suggesting that there's not much difference between being a slightly chubby kid and bearing the brunt of institutional racism, targeted by the BNP and its ilk, being stopped and searched on the street:

"There's always been a thing with Asian people bearing the brunt of jokes. But you're dealing with people who are just the same as you. I've been at the receiving end for being a little chubby kid at high school.

"When it's only for where you're from and the colour of your skin, it sticks with children. It's not just a joke."

Righto... thanks for that, Paolo.

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