Accountability in Entertainment • Page 156

Suddenly conservatives are calling for the left wing mobs to stop cancelling him

 

Re the lines from DAMN.: That is a voicemail on the album from his cousin and it's not really something Kendrick ever states he believes personally.

 

"I'm a Israelite, don't call me black no mo'
That word is only a color, it ain't facts no mo'"

 

I mean...he put it on his album lol

 

I guess I can see why you’d want to find some nuance to this but the post that brought this to light recently pertained to be quoting Hitler and scapegoated Jews for a group’s oppression. That’s a large part of what Hitler did and it lead to some of the worst horrors the world has ever seen. I don’t know how that can be defended and trying to find nuance in this rather than demanding condemnation is not only just wrong it is a dangerous path to go down.

 

I just don't think DAMN. is as literal "he said it so that's what he believes" there is a lot going on in that album

 

Typically I might agree with you, but there's literally no evidence or lyrics pointing to the contrary. I love the album, but it takes mental gymnastics to ignore that being a major theme throughout.

 

Kendrick Lamar: The Best Rapper Alive on Bono, Mandela, Stardom and More

"Your cousin Carl is a member of the Hebrew Israelites, who believe that African-Americans are the true descendants of the biblical Israelites. Carl pops up in a voicemail on “FEAR.” You call yourself an Israelite on the album. How much of his theology have you embraced, and how much of it is just you playing with the ideas?

Everything that I say on that record is from his perspective. That’s always been my thing. Always listen to people’s history and their background. It may not be like mine, it may not be like yours. It was taking his perspective on the world and life as a people and putting it to where people can listen to it and make their own perspective from it, whether you agree or you don’t agree. That’s what I think music is for. It’s a mouthpiece."

 

Does that perspective...need a mouthpiece as prominent and far-reaching as a Kendrick Lamar album though?

 

Well then it’s a mouthpiece for some hateful rhetoric

 

Oof

 

"No, no, no, see I don't believe in this hateful bullshit, I just want all of my fans around the world to hear it presented uncritically and potentially be influenced by its inclusion on one of my records."

 

The Joe Rogan defense

 

Sure that's fair, but imo the album isn't trying to say this viewpoint is right necessarily

 

It's def not on the same level as Jay-Z / Nick Cannon is all I'm saying

 

I think there’s enough in that quote to imply Kendrick very well may not actually hold actively antisemitic beliefs himself & may very well have had good intentions...

But, sometimes intentions don’t really matter.

I mean, how anti-black could a white artist allow someone else’s voice be in their creative work without addressing it, before being culpable for racism? If I wrote something & included a neonazi perspective in a non critical way, would that be cool?

If he’s not antisemitic himself... that’s all the more reason to bring attention to that shit.

Besides, that sharing of others’ opinions is kinda how JK Rowling initially started dipping her toe into transphobia. I’m not definitively saying anything about where I think Kendrick’s at ‘cause I can’t, but the plausible deniability of “sharing someone else’s perspective” is suspect for good reason.

 

Not sure if this was posted, but just saw this on FB

 

Where people will feel safe? So he’s not showing up?

 

love 2 read excuses for antisemitism it’s my favorite thing

 

Well it's a good thing TJ Miller isn't funny so people won't spread germs by laughing.

 

I wouldn’t feel safe and comfortable in a room with a guy who called in a fake bomb threat

 

He did what???