Kanye West is best known for his rap music, artistry, fashion brand and title as Kim Kardashian’s hubby. The US rapper is one of the most acclaimed rappers of the 21st century and over the years he has made a name for himself, by shocking the public with his controversial statements and on-screen outbursts.
This goes way back to 2005 when the rapper stated on a live television broadcast – fundraising for the victims of hurricane Katrina – that George Bush “doesn’t care about black people”. This follows similar incidents, at the MTV 2009 awards where Kanye took to the stage during the acceptance of Taylor Swift’s ‘Best Female Video’ award, only to let everyone know, that he thought Taylor did not deserve the award.
Now Mr West has made headlines saying, that the enslavement of African Americans for years may has been a “choice”.
In an interview with the entertainment site TMZ on Tuesday (1st May), Kanye spoke openly of his support for Donald Trump, free thinking and his obligation to represent “the world”. However, his interview really hit a rough spot when he implied that the African slave trade was, in part, a result of choice from the enslaved. The 40-year-old told reporters: “When you hear about slavery for 400 years… for 400 years?! That sounds like a choice,” before laughing.
He goes on to say, “You was there for 400 years and there’s all of y’all?!”, questioning the idea that the hundreds of African Americans that were enslaved had a choice to free themselves.
Kanye then went on to say, “it’s like we’re all mentally imprisoned.”
His comments have caused outrage among many as he suggests that people were not forced from Africa to the US during the 17th – 19th centuries to be sold as slaves.
Kanye West stirs up the TMZ newsroom over TRUMP, SLAVERY and FREE THOUGHT. There's A LOT more that went down … and the fireworks are exploding on @TMZLive today. Check your local listings for show times. pic.twitter.com/jwVsJCMPiq
— TMZ (@TMZ) May 1, 2018
Kanye’s comments received immediate backlash from Van Lathan, a black member of staff at TMZ. Mr Lathan voiced his opinions saying, “You’re entitled to believe whatever you want, but there is fact and real-world, real-life consequence behind everything that you just said,” he added as the star stood still stroking his chin.
“We have to deal with the marginalisation that has come from the 400 years of slavery that you said for our people was a choice,” Mr Lathan continued, adding: “I’m appalled, and brother I am unbelievably hurt by the fact that you have morphed into something to me that isn’t real.”
Kanye’s response was an apology saying, “I’m sorry, I hurt you bro.”
Van Lantan posted his full comments via a podcast later after the interview:
NEW PODCAST ALERT. @cthagod called in on this one. “Kanye West Emergency Episode” https://t.co/juiqWItsTX
— VanLathan (@VanLathan) May 1, 2018
After the viral spread of Kanye’s interview, people took to Twitter to mock the rapper’s comments using the hashtag #IfSlaveryWasAChoice.
https://twitter.com/byecrisg/status/991541145015607296
https://twitter.com/Doncorrr/status/991573152923824128
Will.I.Am spoke out on Good Morning Britain about Kanye’s comments saying it was, “one of the most ignorant statements that anybody who came from the hood could ever say about their ancestors”.
Yesterday Kanye responded to the news of his TMZ comments, clarifying his statement:
https://twitter.com/kanyewest/status/991459400018624512
This was then elaborated with the tweet, “My point is for us to have stayed in that position even though the numbers were on our side means that we were mentally enslaved”.
This event follows the recent release of Kanye’s track, ‘Ye vs The People’, that defends his support for Donald Trump.
Is this finally the end of the road for Kanye West? Or does he still have some valid opinions to offer? Let us know our thoughts on Twitter @pridemag…
