Turns out, it's all Radio 1's fault. I've suspected it for some time. Especially that Jo Whiley. But now it's been confirmed - Radio 1 is the primary cause of knife and gun crime in the UK. Or at least it is according to Tory top man David Cameron.
OK, I might be misquoting him slightly there. What he actually said, when talking to the British Society Of Magazine Editors the other night, was: "I would say to Radio 1, do you realise that some of the stuff you play on Saturday nights encourages people to carry guns and knives?".
He was answering a question about how he would tackle rising crime, and it seems Cameron was making reference to the lyrical content of some of the hip hop that gets aired at the weekend, which, he reckons, encourages young people to carry knives and guns (you know, I'm can't help thinking that he's not 100% wrong in that accusation). The Tory man said he knew those kinds of comments might prove controversial but that they were a demonstration that he has "the courage to speak up when you see something that is wrong".
Radio 1, needless to say, refuted the claims, presumably because it's only the nerdy hip hop heads that listen to Radio 1 - the cool, knife-owning kids listening to the pirates instead. A spokesman for the station told reporters yesterday: "Radio 1 strongly refutes any suggestion that the station condones or encourages knife or gun culture. The station takes its responsibilities very seriously and has strict producer guidelines that govern all of the output. Hip-hop is a huge international genre with a vibrant UK scene and that music reflects the sometimes harsher realities of people's lives and cultures."
Cameron is not the first politician to express concern over hip hop lyrics, of course. In 2003 then Home Secretary David Blunkett said he planned to speak to music producers and community leaders about some of the "appalling" lyrics that appear in hip hop, while former culture minister Kim Howells once said that certain parts of the hip hop community were guilty of creating a culture "where killing is almost a fashion accessory".
Of course what we really need is for Chuck D to turn all these hip hop kids off violence and onto radical politics - though I'm not convinced Cameron, Blunkett et al would be all that keen on that either.