In recent years, the UK has seen an epidemic of knife crime, which sounds way less terrifying than the kind of stuff that we have to deal with over here but which still seems bad. Idris Elba, the great actor and occasional musician, is responding with a new initiative called the Don’t Stop Your Future campaign, and he’s calling on British parliament to “reverse funding cuts to youth services across the UK” and “immediately enact the ban on zombie knives and machetes.” Elba is making those points with a new anti-violence rap song called “Knives Down.”

A zombie knife, I’m just learning this morning, is a fancy and gnarly-looking bladed weapon with a look inspired by zombie movies. According to Wikipedia, they were manufactured for survivalists and collectors, but they’ve become a factor in UK knife crime, and they’re already banned in parts of the country. On the Don’t Stop Your Future website, Elba writes, “Back in August, Government promised to ban zombie knives and machetes. But four months later, the legislation needed has only just started its slow journey through Parliament. We’re asking for the ban to be implemented immediately.”

Idris Elba, who has a side hustle as an EDM DJ, has plenty of connections in the UK rap and grime scenes. In 2021, he took part in the Daily Duppy freestyle series, and he did better than you’d expect a middle-aged movie star to do. On the new song “Knives Down,” Elba collaborates with mostly-unknown UK rapper DB Maz to talk stopping the violence. Unlike past efforts in this lane, the song’s video — posted on GRM Daily, the main distribution channel for grime and UK drill — isn’t framed as a moral appeal to young people. Instead, it’s Elba and a group of young people confronting an uncaring Parliament about its inaction. Check it out below.