M.I.A. questions why Beyonce and Kendrick Lamar haven’t spoken out on social injustices facing people in other countries.
British-Sri Lankan rapper M.I.A. didn’t hesitate in criticizing Beyonce and Kendrick Lamar, during an interview with Evening Standard magazine. In her interview, she questioned why the two artists haven’t made a stand for Muslim lives, Syrian lives, or children in Pakistan.
“It’s interesting that in America the problem you’re allowed to talk about is Black Lives Matter,” M.I.A. said. “It’s not a new thing to me — it’s what Lauryn Hill was saying in the 1990s, or Public Enemy in the 1980s. Is Beyoncé or Kendrick Lamar going to say Muslim Lives Matter? Or Syrian Lives Matter? Or this kid in Pakistan matters? That’s a more interesting question. And you cannot ask it on a song that’s on Apple, you cannot ask it on an American TV programme, you cannot create that tag on Twitter, Michelle Obama is not going to hump you back.”
M.I.A. attempted to clarify her remarks in a series of messages sent on Twitter today (April 21). The musician went on to explain that she wasn’t criticizing Beyonce with her comments about Black Lives Matter.
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“My question was,on American platforms what do they allow you to stand up for in 2016. This has been the number 1 question for me…A#blacklivesmatter B#Muslimlivesmatter. I’m not Muslim . My criticism wasn’t about Beyoncé. It’s how u can say A not B right now in 2016,” M.I.A. wrote in two separate tweets.
M.I.A.’s tweets addressing her comments on Beyonce, Kendrick Lamar, and Black Lives Matter, can be found below.
