Brand Nubian rapper Lord Jamar is continuing to catch criticism over comments he made weeks ago in regards to white rappers, specifically Seattle emcee Macklemore. Among the latest batch of artists to come to the defense of those Lord Jamar called out is West Coast wordsmith Hopsin. The Los Angeles-based artist referred to Lord Jamar as a “dumb ass dude” when asked about a tweet he sent out in regards to Jamar’s interview with Vlad TV in September.
“Yeah, some dumb-ass dude,” said Hopsin, during an interview with Hard Knock TV. “Some stupid rapper dude was on. I saw an interview. I don’t know how I came across it, but he was talking about like Macklemore and pushing the [gauge] and being white and telling white people to stay in their lane. And, you know, I’m just about humans being equal. Everybody is equal. That shouldn’t even be brought up. That’s racist. Like that’s so foul. That’s equivalent to a white guy going, ‘Why are you in this fucking bathroom? You’re fucking black. Don’t ever [over]step your boundaries.’ When you hear somebody talk like that it gives you chills. Like, ‘Woah, is this mothafucka serious right now?’ It’s 2013 and somebody’s really talking like this right now…Whoever that dude was, whatever the fuck he was talking, anybody can do whatever the fuck they want to do. If Macklemore wants to push for gay rights, why can’t he?”
In his interview with Vlad TV, Lord Jamar stated that white artists are “guests in the house of Hip Hop” and went on to make a specific reference to Macklemore.
Hopsin States That Eminem Is “50 Percent” Of The Rap Game
Hopsin also spoke on Eminem, an artist Lord Jamar mentioned during a series of tweets he made during the airing of MTV’s Europe Music Awards on November 10.
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Hopsin referred to Eminem, who is white, as being “50 percent of the fuckin rap game” and gave credit to emcees of all races.
“Yeah, it may have been started by black people, but it’s evolved so much,” said the rapper. “And how you gonna say that with Eminem? So, you’re just gonna completely ignore Eminem and everything that he’s done for Hip Hop? Like ‘Oh, he just doesn’t exist then.’ And Eminem is like 50 percent of the fuckin rap game, if you ask me. So, you’re just gonna completely ignore that? Like that’s so stupid to say. Come on now, it’s 2013. Racism shouldn’t even be an issue anymore. Hip Hop has evolved. Life has evolved. And there are still racist people out there, but that’s just so stupid to say…There’s so many dope emcees of different races.”
Hopsin Says He Hoped For Macklemore & Yelawolf Collabs On “Knock Madness”
Hopsin may have been able to secure a feature from fellow rapper Tech N9ne for his upcoming album, Knock Madness, but he says he also had plans on approaching Macklemore and Yelawolf for guest features as well.
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“I got Tech N9ne on it,” said Hop. “That was the only one. I wanted to reach out to Yelawolf as well, but I don’t think he had time. And I also wanted to get Macklemore on it, but he was—I had hit up Macklemore early, early like in January or something and I asked him if he was down. I mean, he’s been cool with me. I know him, so he’s always been down to collab, but I just never had anything ready and then I think I hit him up almost—I sent him a text message like a month ago. But I think that was the same day he was doing—I don’t know if it was the BET Awards or something. One of the awards shows. I was like ‘Ahh, he’s definitely not gonna respond.’ Cause all that shit was going on and I was like ‘There’s no way.’ So, I’ll just—It’s cool. I’ll catch him somewhere down the road.”
In addition to Hopsin, Lord Jamar has also received criticism from comedian/actor Lil Duval and Alabama rapper Yelawolf. Lil Duval stated that Lord Jamar was “contradicting” himself with his comments, while Yelawolf offered an even more in-depth response to Jamar’s comments.
“Everybody has a place,” Yelawolf said during an interview with Vlad TV. “I’ve always felt protective of the culture of white rappers because you want to protect the steez of it and make sure that that circle of artists are to a certain par, at least to your opinion. But, all that has changed. It don’t even fuckin’ matter no more. It’s not like when I came up. These kids aren’t going to the ‘hood club in the middle of Bankhead like I was doing to try to get respected. They’re not taking the same steps. It’s not comparable to how I came up. The people I was rollin’ with, the things I was doing and how I came up is totally different.”
Hopsin’s Knock Madness album is currently scheduled for release November 26.
