In the social media madness that ensued following Kanye West’s controversial interview with TMZ Live on Tuesday (May 1), ‘Ye again took to his favorite form of communication — Twitter — to defend his comment that 400 years of slavery was a “choice.”
“We need to have open discussions and ideas on unsettled pain,” he began. “to make myself clear. Of course I know that slaves did not get shackled and put on a boat by free will.”
“My point is for us to have stayed in that position even though the numbers were on our side means that we were mentally enslaved,” he continued. “Kanye vs. the media is modern day Willie [Lynch] theory.”
Kanye is referring to purported Virginia slave owner Willie Lynch. In 1712, Lynch gave a speech about the control of slaves. During the speech, Lynch tells other slave masters he’s discovered how to control black slaves by pitting them against one another.
Ye added, “they hung the most powerful in order to force fear into the others. they can no longer stop our voice. the Nat Turner movie never made it anywhere because it showed slaves revolting. I understand why my god brother Puff calls his network revolt.”
Yeezy then pushed his agenda of free thinking.
“the reason why I brought up the 400 years point is because we can’t be mentally imprisoned for another 400 years,” he wrote. “We need free thought now. Even the statement was an example of free thought. It was just an idea.”
He added, “once again I am being attacked for presenting new ideas.”
In two other tweets, West shared a screenshot of a phone call with J. Cole — who reminded people “These are our heroes” last week — and posted a text message exchange with GOOD Music rapper Big Sean.
Sean, who signed with ‘Ye in 2007, sent him some encouraging words after seeing West’s interview with Charlamagne Tha God, which also came out on Tuesday.
“You n Charlemagne floated, interview all GEMS!” Sean wrote. “I felt a shift after I watched it! Made me call my family cause you’re right, that is a currency that priceless. GOOD ENERGY, needed that. Only love!”
West responded, “I love you bro. Sorry for not checking in,” to which Sean said, “All good! Nothing but love. I realize it’s not time for anything but that.”
Yeezy captioned the Cole post with “we got love.”[apple_news_ad type=”any”]
But not all of ‘Ye’s peers were rejoicing. T.I., who recently teamed up with Kanye for “Ye Vs. The People,” was left confused after seeing ‘Ye’s comments on TMZ Live.
“Yoooo WTF bro!?!?!?!,” Tip wrote. “I’m scratching my head like a muuuufucka now cuzz!!!”
Revisit Tip’s interview with Hot 97 below, where he talks about his meeting with ‘Ye.
Kanye’s problem is he’s never been held to account for what comes out of his mouth and surrounds himself with people who acquiesce to his bullshit.. Trying to sound righteous while your black ass is sitting in an interview with blond fucking hair living in Beverly Hills with an all white family. GTFOH. I’m so pissed he produced Nas’ album I don’t know what to do.
Living in Calabasas!!!!
Apologies for the miscalculation.
We need to cancel this fool. Straight up… slavery, a choice?? I guess racism is just a quirky personality trait as well… duck this piece of shit
Please get him ALL the way tf outta here
In most southern states under slavery it was law that if a single slave commited an act of murder against one of their owners/overseers, that the entire slave population of that plantation would have to be executed as retribution. Kill a white and they’d kill your entire family and every friend you have. I don’t see much choice in something like that.
Chose to dick-ride instead of checking his boy. Lames all over the fucking the place.
And John Legend should know better.
This may be the end the road for Nas if he let Kim produce his album.
Anybody who doesn’t understand what he’s saying, will never excel. He is so accurate with the mental slavery and what many call the “poor black people” mentality that is pushed. It is only getting worse. Nobody on here, nor their parents, or grandparents were a slave. The effects of it are indeed longstanding, however, that unfortunately inlcudes that terrible mindstate that still exists to where Kanye is suffering a public lynching from his own people for simply trying to uplift.
Stop it.
Kanye isn’t trying to uplift shit. He’s pawning for attention. Your response was eloquent and defensive of man who is full of shit.
Agree fam. Kanye is a mental slave himself. Pursuit of money, fame, and public validation all to what end? None of this is a noble cause. Kanye Kardashian is full of shit, plain and simple.
Maybe you and Mr. West need to do some research. Start with slavery vs enslavement, because you two and the others who support your theory may be lost.
Shut up and release the damn album…and it better not feature them just released troll garbage records.
stfu
Easier said than done yeezy. But I see what you’re saying. Its the same shit we’re living right now too. The media and everything around us is owned by the same families and unless a good billion of us are ready to stand up to them and die for our actual freedom then nothing’s ever going to change.
look at this sunken sellout talking lol go get your white wh*re of a wife and her wh*re family and gtfohwtbs. Once jayz runs from someone they wack lol and u can see after that their whole life going dizown!
Damn brahh youre really upset….. but you be careful man when you throw those insults the person you speak of will never know how you feel but you are the one that is feeling it on the inside. Shit aint even worth the thought. Hope your day is the best ever!!
Kanye proudly said he doesn’t read books and you can see how its a problem. Ignorance n free thinking are not the same thing Kanye
Damn Ye, you can‘t just say whatever the fuck you want and then be like „yooo I‘m just free-thinking“ when people get offended. It‘s fucked up enough that you‘re wilding left and right for years now, but this new thing, this hiding behind this „free thinking“ shit… That‘s just bullshit, my guy.
Slavery, by definition, can’t be a choice Now I watched the full clip and he mentioned being mentally enslaved, which I assume he means the long lasting psychological issues hundreds of years post slavery. But even that isn’t fully correct in context. We live in the internet age. You can pull many historical records of slave revolts (both in US history and the world history as slavery wasn’t just a US concept) to find that many slave revolts over the years ended with brutality. Sticking with US slavery, even post slavery many black people faced death, lynching, mob riots etc for trying to progress. Again, internet age, read of people DYING for trying to get rights to votes, Black Wall Street being burned down and other atrocities. If he would have stuck with the Democrats using the black vote and doing nothing for the communities, I would be on his side. But this one, no I can’t with any reason support his claims when historically it doesn’t add up.
God, all of this is so boring. zzz
People actually think he meant that slavery was a choice. Haven’t you learnt to not take everything he says literally and that things may be out of context? Get with the program.
You sound Like Sarah “smokey eye*Sanders with you gas lighting. GTFOH!
I bet you hate the part of yourself that’s obsessed with our culture…
Get with the program is fair advice. We have to hold these “icons” accountable for their words and actions. Kanye West has lived a life (because of his hard work, which I respect) that is vastly different than the average Black existence in America. Whether he’s exercising “free thought” or not, he’s choosing examples and issues that are very real to people who do live in poverty and fear on a daily basis. But whatever, right? Kanye’s album is dropping…he’s on a whirlwind press tour…he’s a visionary….he’s an unheralded genius…Black people don’t have to be Democrats etc etc ect. Wearing a Make America Great Again is supporting a President who claimed “there were good people on both sides” of the Tiki torch line. I don’t miss the old Kanye because there’s no such thing.
I’m not bout sit here and debate the ramblings of a grown man that seems a little caught up in what strangers say or think about him. All this “I did it for you ” is hoe shit. He did it for the money and fame and now that he has these things, what else? He has the money to go off somewhere with his family and live great out of the spotlight. He CHOOSES this route cause like most celebrities, that ego is waaay out there. He needs to be revalant to validate himself or at least he feels that way it seems. Hell look at everyday life, it’s plenty of guys like this around that NEED that attention and crave. Gotta take the good with the bad though. Price of fame. And he act like he trying to save somebody. Who the fuck needs saving? And by him? He need to take care of his damn self first
Slavery was a choice if you don’t motherfucking agree go tell that to Haiti. They CHOSE to revolt.why couldn’t the pussy fucks in Brazil or the 4 MILLION in America do the same why was there only one Nat Turner instead ten thousand Nat Turner’s.
This is stupid and inaccurate on so many levels. So many…
….and look at Haiti now. What your dumb ass fails to realize is the slaves in the US DID revolt. Time and time again. Fucking jackass, too much mouth and not enough brains.
You need to open up a Fu*king history book before you talk sh*t you don’t know about. You sound incredibly ignorant, jacka$$.
Maybe Kanye is just reiterating his belief that We Are The New Slaves….
Perhaps you’re shackled up right next to him in mental bondage…Trump looking at Kanye like “I hope that you’re the one…if not, YOU ARE THE PROTOTYPE”…
Ye selling dope to the dopes…unfortunately, he gettin’ high off his own supply…
Anything for album sells. My question is how much education formal or informal do you need to be a” free thinker” and then will that education influence your thought process?
Ross, I take it back! I’m going after Kanye now.
I understand what he was saying because if you didn’t want to be enslaved just stand for what you believe in, even if it means death. The majority would’ve died at first but eventually they would’ve seen it’s more beneficial to make slaves citizens, like now. Stupid mfs don’t realize it’s not even about blacks vs whites right now tho, if the 99% don’t stop the 1% then we’re all fucked.
Boy, you sound crazy! If your logic was correct, Native Americans would be half of the American population! This wasn’t about mindset. This was about murderers with early access to firearms kidnapping and murdering for centuries…Dat boy got y’all thinking that slavery was about mental strength and courage…This evening, stand twenty feet in front of someone holding a gun, tell them to pull the trigger, and find out how long you can “just stand for what you believe in.” Btw, how old are you…12?