Lord Jamar recently further explained his belief that White people are guests in Hip Hop.
“It just means that Black people are the creators and originators of Hip Hop,” Jamar said in an interview with XXL. “[I’m] not saying that white people shouldn’t be able to do it or [that] they haven’t made valuable contributions to Hip Hop. But this is a Black and Latino art form, and all other people that participate are guests. [I’m not saying this] in a derogatory way—just in a way of come to the culture, we’ll accept you but [you need to] just respect it. There certain boundaries and don’t try at certain times to press your sensibilities upon Hip Hop when those sensibilities might not be in accordance with Hip Hop culture. That’s where it all originated from. My comment from Yelawolf was nothing in response to his opinion. I have no problem with his opinion about how he felt that whole thing. It was the very last piece, when he told me to, ‘Shut the fuck up,’ that’s where he crossed the lines. That’s where he got disrespectful. I have no problem with his opinion or anybody’s opinion. Multiple people got on there [Twitter], and some of them agreed with me and some of them didn’t.
“I didn’t have any problem with anybody who didn’t agree with me because I’m not a Fascist,” Lord Jamar continued. “I don’t feel like I need everyone to agree with my opinion. With that being said, you’re not going to disrespect me and think I’m some fucking punk out here. I’m the type of mothafucker that grew up slapping the shit out of mothafuckers like him, so you’re not gonna come up and talk shit just cause you feel you’re saving some Vlad TV interview right now. I’m not that dude. And you gotta respect your elders and that’s something they don’t have in this Hip Hop shit no more. I would never tell somebody like Grandmaster Caz or Melle Mel to shut the fuck up and all this crazy shit. I don’t care what the fuck they said to me ’cause I have respect for my the ones that came before me.”
During the interview, Lord Jamar also further explained why he threatened Yela.
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“I told him he needs to watch his mouth about the shut the fuck up part strictly,” he said. “Not about his opinion—[just] about him telling me to shut the fuck up. That’s where the watch-your-mouth part comes in. You can voice your opinion all day. This is America; this is what it’s supposed to be all about, right? So go ahead and voice your opinion. Go ahead, voice your opinion…I don’t have a problem with that. It’s [not even] when other people got on there and said, ‘Oh, I think that’s stupid.’ You can call it stupid if you want to. It’s when he told me to shut up—now you’re crossing into different territory now. And that’s where he fucked up at. Now when I said that on Twitter, he’s gonna jump on his Instagram and basically make a commercial for his tour and his mixtape, inviting me to see him on tour. That’s some of the most cowardice shit that you could ever say. [It’s like he’s saying], ‘Come to my tour with all my fans and police and bodyguards and challenge me to a fight so we can jump you.’ Get the fuck out of here. If you want to do this lets go to a neutral place, put some boxing gloves on and let’s go. That’s if you’re really serious about it, but you’re not. You’re a coward. So I’m not even entertaining that as serious. I’m just letting him know that I don’t care who you are—how much money you have, how popular you are, how many followers on Twitter you have—I’m gonna speak my mind, and I’m gonna be who the fuck I am regardless. And calling me all types of names is not gonna stop it. And I’m glad I said this ’cause it’s showing people’s true colors.
“If you look on my timeline and see the attacks from his fans, these are some racist mothafuckers, yo,” Jamar continued. “They’re talking about lynching me and saying, ‘Nigger this, and nigger that.’ You’re coming into Hip Hop to use Hip Hop as a vehicle for your racism basically. And you’re acting like we should be able to say anything in Hip Hop, but should we? Where should we draw the line? Is racist Hip Hop cool? I don’t think so.”
Lord Jamar Calls Macklemore & Ryan Lewis’ “Same Love” Opportunist
In this interview, Jamar was also asked to speak about Macklemore & Ryan Lewis’ “Same Love” selection.
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“To me, that’s an opportunist move that he did,” Jamar said. “We know the climate we’re in right now. I don’t think he cares about gays one way or the other, but he knew that would be a great way to get attention and a great way to blow up. In the climate we’re in right now, you’ll get a nice pat on the back for something like that. And I’m like, if that’s the way you feel, [then] cool, but to use a Hip Hop song to promote it? That’s where I have a little problem about it. [Hip Hop] is not that. It started as a culture for Alpha males, especially Black and Latino males in the inner city. Those people that started it always shunned shit we deemed soft. You can call it what you want to call it, [but] it’s just part of the culture. It’s not about being homophobic. Nobody is running or screaming down the street when they see a gay person. Nobody is trying to beat them up or anything like that. But at the same time, we’re not trying to promote that within Hip Hop, because this is not a gay music. If you like that kind of music, make your own genre. I have no problem with it. Y’all had your own genre. Y’all had House music and stuff like that, but it didn’t pop off like Hip Hop did, so everybody now wants to attach themselves to the shit that’s poppin’ and claim it as their own. Every culture has it’s own accomplishments and they claim them as their own. We just celebrated Columbus Day—that’s the Italians claiming the discovery of America, which is not even true. But they’re proud of that accomplishment. Should I say Italians are racist because they say nobody can claim a land and that everyone lives here now? That’s what they’re trying to tell me: No one can claim a genre of music.
“So the Polish can’t claim poker,” Jamar continued. “The Mexicans can’t claim mariachi. The Italians can’t claim Opera? Or the Japanese can’t claim Anime? You know, I like Anime but does that give me the right to go to Japan and make the policy about Anime? No, of course not. We speak the English language; this is the most spoken language around the world. Does every person that speaks the English language have the right to talk about the affairs of England? Of course not.”
Lord Jamar Wonders How Homosexuality Can Elevate The Human Species
During the interview, Jamar was also asked about how he responds to critics who say Hip Hop has changed.
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“Things do change, but the more things change, the more things stay the same, too,” Jamar said. “It’s like things change to a degree and it’s like how you change. It’s also [about] who’s making the changes and who’s making those decisions. And when we say ‘evolve,’ [my question is] we evolve into what? What are we evolving into? The first definition of evolution is just the prescribed unfolding of a plan. The definition that everybody is thinking of is damn near the fourth definition in the dictionary, which is going from the simplest state to a higher state and the making of something better—that’s what your trying to interpret the acceptance of homosexuality, and I’m saying that’s debatable. I’m saying we need to debate that and see is that really evolution? Does that even make sense? To me, in evolution you evolve things that help you to get better. You might grow arms and be able to go on land now, or whatever the case may be. Colors so other species can identify you and sexually be with you to procreate the species.
“I’m just trying to understand how man on man or woman on woman, which doesn’t create life, is actually an elevation for the species,” Jamar continued. “I understand the elevation of species as far as understanding and loving your fellow man no matter what. I get that and dig that. That’s a good thing. But, as far as the actual act, it’s just debatable. And at the same time, I have the right to not agree with it. I have the right as a human being to not agree with it. To be heterosexual is to be anti-gay, to keep it real. Gays will look at heterosexual stuff and say, ‘Ew, that’s disgusting,’ the same way a heterosexual person would look at that and say, ‘Ew, that’s disgusting.’
“Am I trying to stop from you getting married or stuff like that?” Jamar added. “No. Am I walking in the street and trying to beat your ass? No. But am I trying to stop you from promoting that type of message within what I feel is my culture? Yes. And I have the right to do that. Because where do we draw the line? It’s bad enough with all the misogyny that’s in Hip Hop now. I got to hear about dudes fucking girls and this and that. Now I got to hear about two guys sucking each other off? ‘Cause that’s where it’s going to go. And then were gonna take it there from the audio to the visuals. We can always say turn it off and [not] watch it, and yeah, I’ll turn it off and [not] watch it. How about the young, impressionable minds that look up to the rappers and are ready to follow whatever they’re doing? What about them? You can’t pull the wool over my eyes and you’re not going to stop me from speaking the truth, just by calling me all these names, like old and homophobic. Those are just words to neutralize someone’s voice, and I’m well aware of these tools and that’s why they don’t affect me.”
