Royce Da 5’9″ spoke openly about J. Cole and Kendrick Lamar being criticized for not saying or doing enough during these recent Black Lives Matter protests.
There has been much conversation about J. Cole and Kendrick Lamar, specifically about their involvement in the Black Lives Matter movement. Noname wrote back in May that she was surprised so many rappers were silent, especially considering they have “whole discographies be about black plight.” Cole penned ‘Snow on Tha Bluff” as a response while also speaking about his failures, causing quite the internet flair-up. Kendrick Lamar has also come up in a separate conversation because TDE insinuated that the rapper hasn’t made a triumphant return because “n*ggas don’t appreciate it.”
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Royce Da 5’9″ recently weighed in on the controversies during a chat with HipHopDX and said that people who invest all themselves into their art or skill or talent are ten removed from social constructs. “Lil Wayne as much as I love Lil Wayne, his comments and then his attempt to clean up the comments it just shows his detachment from what’s going on” Royce said. “We can’t really come down on our brothers for that. We can’t come down on Floyd Mayweather for not having the slightest idea how to get involved with anything, or the slightest idea with how to express sympathy, empathy, love, or anything without just writing a check about it. There’s a deeper problem there. That’s what happens when you give your entire life to your craft.”
The rapper added that there are K-Dot fans just waiting on his next move and looking to him and only him for all their answers. “Dave Chappelle is that guy for me,” Royce Da 5’9″ said. “I always look to hear from him, but it doesn’t mean I’m challenging him. The flip side to that is, there are people who challenge Dave Chappelle just because they want to challenge somebody. Then you got other people who are challenging J. Cole and Kendrick to shift some the focus f them because they ain’t doing sh*t. So I think there’s places where it’s valid and there’s places where it’s just bullsh*t. It’s just like trolling.”
Royce said that both Kendrick Lamar and J. Cole should feel “flattered that people look to them” because it speaks volumes about how impactful their catalogs are to the culture. “I think Kendrick coming out a couple days later and popping out at a Compton rally… I don’t know if that was something that was already planned or if he just did that to tell people to kind shut the f*ck up. I don’t like the fact—if he was made to feel like that, I’m not cool with that.” Watch Royce Da 5’9″ share his thoughts below.