In the last few days, the British music industry has taken a memorable step towards inclusivity: all due to vocal Japanse-British pop star Rina Sawayama. 

It has been mere months since Rina Sawayama spoke out through social media about receiving a denied music prize application, not being “British enough” to be a nominee. As a result of Rina’s activism, the Brit Awards and the Mercury Prize- both run by the British Phonographic Industry (BPI)- have now made changes to their artist eligibility rules. Despite her initial worries that came with shining a light on what it means to be an immigrant in Britain, she was met with overwhelming and inspiring support from Twitter users, her record label “Dirty Hit” and now also the BPI.

Rina began to lead this impactful online protest for change because she disagreed with the previous BPI rules which only allowed artists with UK passports to apply for famous Brit Awards and Mercury Prizes. This was a limiting rule for many artists like Sawayama, and it represented a misleading idea of what it means to be British. Growing up for 26 years in London, after moving from her birth country (Japan) at the age of 5, the now 30 year old singer feels that being part-British is an important part of who she is as a person and an artist. She also believes that her work- which includes songwriting that explores identity and nationality- is a great contribution to art in the UK; therefore, she is more than right to stand up and speak out until she feels fully included as a British musician.

The diversity of Britain that Sawayama has grown to know since childhood aligns significantly more with the new BPI rules than it did with the last. Now, an artist must either own a UK passport, have been born in the UK or have been a permanent resident here for 5 years or longer. This overdue (yet appreciated) change has the power to impact many future artists’ careers and lives, and its wide media coverage is a reminder of the work that we need to keep doing in order to fulfil our nation's values of inclusivity completely.

Rina Sawayama has achieved many years of inspiring activism as a young British-Asian woman by discussing her desire to fit in as a schoolchild, sharing her journey of reclaiming her race and nationality, and much more. It is inspiring to see all the work she has done alongside her successful music, especially with the new BPI rule change; Rina has achieved something that is truly worth celebrating.