'Is it still cool to pose with your private jet?'
- Published
Drake didn't make any reference to carbon-offsetting in the original video
Drake has unveiled a brand new, fully personalised private jet.
He gave fans a tour of the Boeing 767, which features a range of plush sofas and the phrase Air Drake printed on the engines, on Instagram TV.
"No rental, no timeshare, no co-owners," he says about the $185m plane in the MTV Cribs style clip.
While some described it as "goals", others weren't so keen on the idea suggesting he "doesn't really care about his carbon footprint".
It's thought Drake will use the jet for gigs later this year in Las Vegas and Brazil
Of course, he's by no means the first musician to opt for the private jet (note Steve Aoki's slightly more intense version, external of the video).
But with the environment being made more prominent by recent protests by Extinction Rebellion, speeches by the teenage campaigner Greta Thunberg and a BBC David Attenborough documentary on climate - it was unlikely that all his 57 million followers would give the post a thumbs up.
"Is it still cool to pose by your private jet in a day where the environment is so pivotal?" asks Tristan Hunt from the Association For Electronic Music (AFEM).
Speaking to BBC Radio 1 Newsbeat about music's impact on the environment, he adds: "Is it still cool to be a fan supporting that person or should fans be looking to reach out to artists and ask them questions about it?"
Tristan, who is in charge of AFEM's green initiatives, admits sometimes "there's no alternative" to using a jet because of packed schedules.
"But for those who need to do it - are they then able to set an example by offsetting those flights?
"That could be planting trees or mangroves, basically doing things that help neutralise the carbon which they produce during air travel."
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Although the lifestyle of a multi-millionaire rapper might be beyond the realm of relatable for his fans, freelance music journalist Chandler Shortlidge says he's seen social media "break down traditional barriers between fan and musician".
"You can gain support on social media that the artist will listen to if enough people do it," he says.
"If posing by a private jet was once seen as cool, if enough fans get upset by it - then maybe what will be cool is saying how much you offset your jet.
"This is the power of social media - they have more influence than they might think."
As it stands, the number of comments about carbon are a drop in the ocean compared to the praise Drake's getting for the post.
But Tristan believes a more general shift in attitude to the way superstars travel is "very achievable".
"It isn't something which has to impinge upon the artist travelling to gigs around the world, there are a lot of options.
"The conversation can easily become 'I've just done this many gigs in this many countries but you know what, I've also planted this many trees... I've joined this carbon initiative'.
"There's all these things that can be done around what artists are already doing and fans can do to.
"This isn't some unattainable goal, it's something that some artists are doing now, it's already happening."
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- Published9 May 2019
