Akon has come under a lot of fire after he claimed that African performers were better than their American counterparts.
The claim was made during an appearance on The ZeZe Millz Show, where he spoke on a range of topics, and said that African performers were just “a little different.”
“We a little different when it comes to stage presence,” Akon said at the 18-minute mark. “Now in America? Oh yeah, them n-ggas gonna be wobbling, pants hanging half down, bored as hell, half asleep ’cause they high as hell. But in Africa, I mean look at these YouTube clips of all these kids from Uganda, these kids are performers.”
“So for us, it comes naturally to watch the kids from Africa. It’s in their blood. Performing is like second nature for us,” he continued, before crowning Black Sherif and Fireboy DML as “the new generation of African talent.”
Twitter flooded with reactions to Akon’s controversial take, with famed producer Van Lathan among those who called the rapper’s comments disrespectful.
“It always comes back to shitting on Black Americans, especially after they’ve made millions imitating Black Americans,” he wrote.
Ebro Darden added: “This is framed in a way to trigger me, lemme chill. @Akon, you’re my guy and you can’t mean African-Americans in general? Ain’t no way!”
Other reactions included Black skincare influencer Lateef Saka, who wrote: “Akon cosplayed as a black American for the majority of his career so him saying this is wild. Let the Black Americans cook him (without xenophobia pls).”
Anna Gifty also wrote: “As a Ghanaian-American, I hate this with every fiber of my body for so many reasons, but what really gets me about this entire “conversation” is Akon using AAVE while degrading African-Americans.”
Elsewhere in the interview, Akon said he “1,000 percent” supported Nick Cannon’s decision to have so many children with different women, and said he shouldn’t be criticized for his parenting decisions.
The Konvict Music CEO was asked to share his thoughts on Cannon’s 11 children that he’s had with multiple women over the years. The Wild ‘n Out host announced in October that he’s expecting his 12th child with model Alyssa Scott.
“Do you agree with Nick Cannon and his spreading of his seed?” Millz asked.
“I agree with him 1,000 percent. That’s how life is supposed to be,” Akon replied. “Why not? He’s rich. He’s responsible. He takes care of every one of those children. And the baby mothers are with it. And they hurt for nothing. And they live comfortably.”
Millz pushed back and said a baby needs far more than just financial support from a father, but Akon stood by Cannon’s parenting skills.
“He’s there for every one of them,” the “Locked Up” singer said. “He’s there for every single one of those kids. I got nine [kids] and I’m there for every one of mine.”
Millz then asked if Akon, who reportedly has six children with three women, is at every one of his kids’ “recitals.”
“No, that’s a white man’s thing. Who gives a fuck about a recital?” he replied. “No, seriously. Listen, my job is to raise my kids, to be responsible, to be understanding, to protect their mother, to give a hand with their father, and to assist with family planning, and to be responsible adults.”
He continued: “Now guess what? While I’m taking care of my responsibility to make sure the family has a roof over their head and food, if I have the time to do that and show love, yes, I will do that. But my responsibility is to make sure they grow up responsible and strong.”
“You can’t expect a man to conquer the world if he’s there with his children,” he concluded.
SMH @ American ignorance. Africa is a continent not a country. America is a country not a continent. to state all of Africa performs better than a country is silly. Which countries in Africa perform better than USA?
Uganda, for example.
I think he means from all over Africa. Kinda like when I say some of the greatest Rockstars on earth are from Europe, I don’t exclusively mean Englad or France.
He’s entitled to his opinion. People are soft now getting all in their feelings. Keep it moving.
That Hairline need to perform backstage
I see a hairline like that, and their opinion goes out the window.
female tendencies
Why does everything has to be some fgt shit? You dont ever read people? Would you buy a car from a salesman with a dirty ass suit. You prob would as you are a bum yourself.
Who cares? I don’t see anything offensive about it. These kids are legit learning to dance and sing in school from birth. I think some of the greatest performers in history are from USA, and all backgrounds. Many from Europe. I’m sure greats come from middle east and Africa too, but idk any of the artists. So yeah, it’s all a matter of opinion. Who cares?
blk and wht people the same and think they invented everything. its a mind virus. everything happened first in africa good or bad. this is where humanity started.
Put him on a bananas boat back to Africa
Put him on a bananas boat back to Africa
Why his hairline got him looking like he’s rocking a kufi?
Most of these guys acting hurt know EXACTLY what he mean, and he right too. Lazy hacks phoning in uninspired quick money grab performances need to be called out for. Of course he doesn’t mean all American performers are like that, clearly that’s not the case, but it’s easy to think of more than a handful of names like that especially in the younger generation.
It’s important to read between the lines in order to get a full understanding of situation and context about Akon’s statement. For starters, Akon is smarter than stereotyping with his opinions. He may have fumbled on his expression in the heat of an argument. It happens. Secondly, his take on Nick Cannon’s parenting choices naturally doesn’t sit well with certain sections of the media and certain interest groups hence the attack on a minor mistake in what is a hard hitting opinion are thought provoking truths. Bottom line, there’s nothing wrong with Nick’s parenting much like there ain’t with Akon’s opinion minus the less articulated and misunderstood point.
time will tell in terms of these men’s parenting styles. we’ll see….