Liam Payne has every right to change his accent. We all do it

msn.com:

chatted to Good Morning Britain on the red carpet at the Oscars, he provoked a social media storm. Comments flooded in dissecting his vowels, mocking his accent and asking why he didn’t sound like he was from Wolverhampton any more.

As a fellow Midlander, I felt a pang of empathy. Liam and I hail from the Midlands, the home of the Black Country dialect (the area is named after the thick black smog that hung over the region during the heady days of the industrial revolution).

The sing song dialect has its roots in old and middle English, and predates the more socially prestigious received pronunciation (RP) found in the south of England.

Growing up, I quickly learned that I would be judged and defined by how I speak. The long vowels that spill out of my mouth would become symbolic of who I am, and assumptions would be made about my background and intelligence.