While speaking with AllHipHop.com, Chicago rapper Rhymefest offered his thoughts on Spike Lee’s newest film, Chi-Raq. According to the musician, the only member of the Chicago community the director met up with for approval for the film was a white priest.
He also spoke on Lee exploiting poor people with the film, and compared Chi-Raq to someone making a satire about the Holocaust as it was happening.
“The process that Spike Lee used to come into Chicago and exploit poor people—And I’ll go through a little bit of the process,” Rhymefest said. “Coming in, going to a white priest. And that’s the only community member that you go to to justify you making a film. When there are a lot of different community people that if you’re gonna make a film like this, about this, that you should speak to. I think it was kinda like in the middle of the Holocaust saying ‘I’mma make a satire about the Holocaust while it’s happening.’ We’re in a crisis in Chicago. You can’t satirize the crisis while it’s happening…You don’t have no Chicago writers on this film. So, the voice of it is not even authentic to the city.”
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Rhymefest also offered criticism to Russell Simmons, who he says has also exploited black people, over the recent Rush Card failure.
“Russell Simmons, when he exploits black people with a Rush Card,” he said. “And gives black people all these undue fees. And all this shit. And then they money just disappear…At some point we gotta stop the nonsense. And be serious about ourselves.”
