Kanye West isn’t happy with Q-Tip for voicing his support for Jewish people amid the outrage over his recent controversial statements.
In an Instagram post on October 24, the A Tribe Called Quest legend sided with the Jewish community in the wake of Kanye’s anti-Semitic remarks on social media and in various interviews.
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“I support my Jewish friends and the Jewish people,” read Tip’s message, which was widely shared by other celebrities including Kim Kardashian, Kylie Jenner, Gwyneth Paltrow and more.
Kanye, who was recently suspended from Instagram once again for violating the platform’s policies, expressed his disappointment at Q-Tip’s perceived betrayal on Parler — the conservative social media platform he recently agreed to purchase — on Monday (October 31).
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“First one of my heroes Q Tip was mad at Michael Rapaport,” he wrote, referencing Tip’s rift with the Jewish director over the 2011 documentary Beats, Rhymes & Life: The Travels of A Tribe Called Quest.
“Then Q tip post this while the #redmedia been trying to destroy my life Never meet your heroes,” he added, sharing a screenshot of Tip’s aforementioned Instagram message.
“Red media” is a term Kanye previously used to describe purportedly Jewish-run media companies that he believes have “teamed up” on him.
Kanye West has frequently cited Q-Tip and A Tribe Called Quest as one of his “biggest inspirations.”
“Midnight Marauders, Electric Relaxation, Low End Theory — a lot of the melodies and the type of chords they would sample … was what I was going for when I did The College Dropout,” he told Sway in the Morning in 2013.
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Kanye later worked with Q-Tip on songs like “We Gonna Make It Better,” “Chain Heavy” and “That’s My Bitch,” before signing him to his G.O.O.D. Music imprint in 2012. (Tip never released any solo material on the label.)
Ye was even supposed to join A Tribe Called Quest as an honorary member in 2016 for their final album We got it from Here… Thank You 4 Your service (which he made a cameo on), as revealed by Consequence on Drink Champs earlier this year.
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However, their relationship has become fractured in recent years due to Kanye’s increasingly polarizing political views. Following his embrace of then-President Donald Trump in 2016, Q-Tip publicly questioned the Chicago native and called for a sit-down with him.
“It’s difficult because I love him, that’s my brother. I reached out to him and I’m hoping that we just get to talk,” he told Bloomberg. “I really care about that dude, but his remarks are something that requires he and I having a real serious discussion.”
Kanye West’s anti-Semitic comments have cost him more than just Q-Tip’s support. The 45-year-old has been dropped by a growing number of organizations and individuals, including Def Jam, Balenciaga and JP Morgan Chase Bank.
The termination of his lucrative adidas partnership took a massive hit on his personal net worth, reportedly slashing his $1.9 billion fortune to $400 million.
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Despite the increasingly costly backlash, Ye doesn’t appear to be backing down. After initially apologizing for his anti-Semitic remarks during an interview with Piers Morgan, the Yeezy founder has resumed his attacks on the Jewish community and other opponents.
His latest Instagram suspension came after a series of posts targeting “the Jewish people” who supposedly run the entertainment industry, as well as the mother of George Floyd’s daughter, who recently filed a $250 million lawsuit after he suggested Floyd died from fentanyl, rather than the excessive force of Minneapolis police officers.
