Kai Rollins releases "anti-Christmas single" Fifty Shades



Kai Rollins has never been the sort of guy to shy away from controversy. Since earning his first record deal with Ocean Records earlier this year, the frontman has become almost as synonymous with conflict as he has with his own music. However, his constant running Twitter battles with Mariko and Erica Kobayashi, Honor Wynter, Alec Holter and anyone else who dared to tweet something he disagreed with seems like something of a small matter compared to his latest target - religion as a whole. The frontman has chosen the festival of Western religious celebration that has long been the cornerstone of family life - Christmas - to launch his latest tirade, a song that talks about his own ambivalence and mistrust of religion as a whole. Essentially, this is four minutes of Kai calling the bible a work of fiction - standard fare for music's most...challenging personality.

The rather controversial subject matter may raise a few eyebrows around the music world - after all, going after religion at its core and calling it out as fictitious seems to be asking for trouble, but is there anything more funamentally Kai? While others might shirk away from the sort of attention a song like this would undoubtedly bring them, the tattooed, brash, rough-round-the-edges Brit is just as likely to stir up the problem as much as embrace it. His song may be satirical at its heart, and many will argue that it can't be taken seriously - after all, what is music without a creative and theatrical touch? But one thing is for sure; a guy like Kai Rollins is far too smart to not know the sort of reaction this sort of track would bring him. No doubt the pitchforks will be out and the torches lit as school boards around the world get ready to ban t-shirts bearing the lyrical slogan "You say you're a God but your six! six! six!" - definitely the lyrical highlight of Rollins short professional career to date, but it's likely to simply put more of a smile on his face anyway.

There can be no doubt that Kai is an accomplished and dedicated musician, though and it's important that his dedication to pissing people off and having fun doesn't undermine just how good he is as an artist. Despite admitting that he spends most of his life inebriated or at the very least under the influence in some way, the singer has a talent for a tune, and has released two top 15 singles in his short career so far. This third release from him is more of what we all come to expect from Kai. It's angry, it's raw, it's loud and it has that sort of sweeping and thumping Kai Rollins mixture of fluidity and violence that has made his music stand out from the crowd. For those who enjoyed Kai's second single, this effort may be a little jarring and heavier (he called himself out for being a "sell-out fuck" after the release of his second single in October). The mid-tempo pace and the clean vocals have gone again, replaced by the sort of venomous bark that his fans demand.

As a songwriter, Rollins is far more skilled than he would have people believe. As much as his lyrics are controversial, they offer a quite witty insight into his mind. His deciphering and dissection of organised religion is almost exquisite. This is a move away from the sort of thing Kai is comfortable with, though. He has previously sung about angst, teenage feelings and unrequited love on his demos and in his time with his old band, but this offers something deeper, a theme that has more than one layer. The symbolism he uses in his lyrics shows a growth and - can we say this about a guy like Kai? - a real maturing, at least on a professional level. There is a distinct lack of threats for threats' sake, very little in the way of f-bombs gratuitously tossed into the mix, and much more in the way of thought. This is clearly the work of a man who, even if he won't admit it, wants to be respected and presented as a true pioneer of rock and roll music.

And it would be a foolish man who would discount Rollins backing band. They almost get left in his wake, and that's not hard given the sort of ego that comes as a part of the Kai Rollins package deal, but they produce a sound that is quite fantastic. Fans of metalcore will rejoice at the way the genre has been rejuvenated and had its rule book rewritten by a group of angry young English guys intent on making music that is not only angry and loud, but also smart, musically astute and challenging. It brings a new element to the style, as well as to the band themselves, and gives Kai that absolutely stunning platform from which he can look down on us all and preach his own warped ideas of religion. The irony of this song is quite humorous - it's so good that this might be the one that really wins Kai the sort of religious following and love that he parodies so accurately.

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Kai says: "Count this as like me seminal moment, or summat. I think all metal singers need to have their moment where they get blamed for being the influence behind some heinous fucking crime, you know? Manson, Slayer, Maiden, even Twisted fucking Sister - they've all been there. This is my song for that. I'm dangling it there and just waiting for some cunt to take the bait. I wanna say, right, there is no way at all that this song is Satanist or whatever - it's about apathy and blind belief in the absence of a thirst for knowledge and true understanding.

But rest assured, the fact it says 666 in the chorus means that the next time some fucked up gothic kid strangle rapes his bird, it'll be "tragic teenager kills girlfriend after listening to Kai Rollins track". I can't wait for the aftermath. I'm not likely to be pissed off by it, am I? Publicity and all that. Give em what they fucking want. Even if the "they" in question is the Daily Mail. They want someone to point the finger at and hold up as a bastion of all that's wrong in the world? I'm more than happy to play their pseudo villain. The song though, right...I wrote it when I were properly fucked up. But then I always am, innit? I wrote it after I had a Twitter conversation wiv that Allison girl. You know the one that looks like a psycho anime character? We decided that religion is an arse-ended concept based on the beliefs of people who were even more fucked up than we are.

It's the angriest song I've released yet, without a doubt, but it's not to be taken all that seriously. It's all about my own atheistic beliefs, and the way I hate having religion forced on me. I'm not against anyone being religious - fill yer fuckin boots - but I'll never accept when some mong stands there preaching to me about it. Look at this sort of like my anti preach in a way. I know, if you take it literally, it's sounding like something of a hatred towards religion, but it's not. Look at it more the way I did - it's like a dismissal of the theories behind it, from my point of view. I don't think there's anything wrong with that. Be sure to say that when they come for me with the pitchforks and torches, right?

Oh yeah, and the title. Nearly forgot that. That was a last minute thing, innit? I didn't have a clue what I wanted to call it, but then I were like "I want to show that this is like.....like calling the bible a work of fiction, but I want it to be very offensive at the same time." So I decided that likening a book filled with debauchery, sado-masochism, hate, rape, bondage, dominance and violence...to Fifty Shades of Grey would probably be quite offensive to that untalented bint that wrote it. It has nothing really to do with the track, but hey, who gives a fuck about that?"



Artist Kai Rollins
Track Fifty Shades
Genre Metalcore/Deathcore
Length 3:55
Recorded Sheffield, England
Lebel Ocean Records

Sounds like:


Would he who is without sin please cast the first stone,
And pummel her down til she no longer moans
Can those people in glass houses stop throwing bricks
You say you're a God but you're six! six! six!

I refuse! I refuse to bow down to you
To get on my knees and confess all my sins
I refuse! I'll never take my seat on your pew
To listen to you preach about all I could win

Truth is, no one's a champ, we're all gonna lose
Walk into nothing, no clouds, no harps, no fire
Fuck your map, it doesn't matter what path you choose
Put your faith in yourself and accept what transpires

Would he who is without sin please cast the first stone,
And pummel her down til she no longer moans
Can those people in glass houses stop throwing bricks
You say you're a God but you're six! six! six!

Will you be another puppet, dreaming of your wings
Or will you accept that it will come to fuck all
I hope you choke, I'll see you hang by your strings
Blasphemy, keep pushing, I'll stand you up against the wall

Would he who is without sin please cast the first stone,
And pummel her down til she no longer moans
Can those people in glass houses stop throwing bricks
You say you're a God but you're six! six! six!

Cauterise the wounds, stitch up your stigmata,
Gimme a break, love, because none of this is fact
When darkness comes you'll realise that nothing mattered
A fictional escape from reality, it's all an act

Rape my senses and tear my logic limb from limb
How can you live a life based on hatred and denial
Take my mind and mould it, brainwash me to cleanse my sin
Who wants to live this way, perpetually on trial

Would he who is without sin please cast the first stone,
And pummel her down til she no longer moans
Can those people in glass houses stop throwing bricks
You say you're a God but you're six! six! six!

You're a snake, a temptress, leading me to betrayal
But there's nothing after they lay me to rest
Your lips are full, full of promises never fulfilled
Just let me give in and bring my head to your breast

Would he who is without sin please cast the first stone,
And pummel her down til she no longer moans
Can those people in glass houses stop throwing bricks
You say you're a God but you're six! six! six!

But there will be no consequences, no other backlash
No one will strike me down for what I dare to achieve
So if I never find my senses, even if it goes to trash
A noble gas will never suppress what I choose to believe

I made my choice and I laid it all on the table
Played my cards and waited for your hand
But these promises of fruitful truths were no more than fable
I'm stuck here still with no future planned

Would he who is without sin please cast the first stone,
And pummel her down til she no longer moans
Can those people in glass houses stop throwing bricks
You say you're a God but you're six! six! six!

Gimme a reason, something I can cling to and see
More than just fiction, bigger than these torn pages
Why should I trust in that which don't believe in me
A Chinese whisper passed idly through the ages

You're an old wives' tale, nothing more than a rumour
Let me be the one to bring this bullshit to an end
Let me be the doctor to extract you like a tumour
A shepherd who can guide the sheep you won't tend

Would he who is without sin please cast the first stone,
And pummel her down til she no longer moans
Can those people in glass houses stop throwing bricks
You say you're a God but you're six! six! six!