Ofcom has dismissed over 300 complaints which claimed Dave’s show-stopping Brit Awards performance was “racist” towards white people.
The 21-year-old brought the O2 Arena to a stunned silence with his rendition of Black at last month’s ceremony.
Black is an exploration of Dave’s heritage and attitude towards race in the UK, with lyrics including: “Black is pain, black is joy, black is evident / It's workin' twice as hard as the people you know you're better than / 'Cause you need to do double what they do so you can level them.”
The five minute-long Brits performance saw the rapper, real name David Orobosa Omoregie, deliver his track with an added verse that criticised Prime Minister Boris Johnson, the treatment of Meghan Markle and the response to the Grenfell fire.
He subsequently received a standing ovation from the crowd while the majority of viewers tuning in at home instantly praised the star.
But a total of 309 people contacted the broadcasting watchdog to claim it was “racist.”
Dismissing the complaints, an Ofcom spokesperson said (via Metro): “In our view, the performance was likely to be within most viewers’ expectations of this well-established awards ceremony, where it’s not uncommon for artists to express personal political views during their performances.”
Black was praised by critics upon its release in 2019 and sparked discussions when played on Radio 1.
DJ Annie Mac called out listeners for sending in "so many negative comments" whenever she played the song, urging them to listen with "open ears."
Addressing the backlash on his breakfast show, Greg James said: "If you've got a problem with the content of the Dave track, the problem is with you, and you need to go and read up and educate yourself a bit."
As well as delivering the performance of the night at the Brits, Dave walked away from the February ceremony with the Best British Album accolade for his debut, Psychodrama.
The evening also included performances from Stormzy and Lewis Capaldi, while host Jack Whitehall paid tribute to Caroline Flack.
