Rapper 21 Savage said his controversial lyrics about the Jewish community were meant to compliment not offend — still, he spent the holiday apologizing for what many deemed bigoted and offensive.
As The Grio previously reported, NBA player Lebron James also faced backlash for quoting 21’s new song ASMR, where the Atlanta rapper boasts: “We been gettin’ that Jewish money, everything is Kosher (On God).”
—LeBron James apologizes for post quoting offensive lyrics ‘Jewish money’—
As reported by USA Today, 21 Savage aka Saint Laurent Don, took to Twitter Christmas Eve to say “sorry if I offended everybody.”
“The Jewish people I know are very wise with there (sic) money so that’s why I said we been gettin Jewish money I never thought anyone would take offense I’m sorry if I offended everybody never my intention I love all people.”
The Jewish people I know are very wise with there money so that’s why I said we been gettin Jewish money I never thought anyone would take offense I’m sorry if I offended everybody never my intention I love all people
— Saint Laurent Don (@21savage) December 25, 2018
James also issued an apology for quoting the lyrics to his 45.8 million Instagram followers.
“Apologies, for sure, if I offended anyone. That’s not why I chose to share that lyric. I always [post lyrics]. That’s what I do. I ride in my car, I listen to great music and that was the byproduct of it,” he told ESPN. “So, I actually thought it was a compliment and obviously it wasn’t through the lens of a lot of people. My apologies. It definitely was not the intent, obviously, to hurt anybody.”
Meanwhile, Meek Mill agrees with Savage, that the line about “getting Jewish money” is a compliment.
“I can’t wait until the day I hear a different race saying…we getting black folks money coming from being slaves in America!”
In related news, Lil Pump faced similar criticism for new music that social media users slammed as offensive to the Asian community.
When he posted a sneak peak of his upcoming song “Butterfly Doors” on Twitter earlier this month, Pump pulled his eyes back to a slanted-gesture as he rapped, “Smokin’ on dope (damn) / They call me Yao Ming cause my eye real low (ching chong).”
Actress Awkwafina was among his critics. “Always nice to hear a new song with a Ching Chong adlib,” she said in a Dec. 17 tweet that has since been deleted. “Guess it’s better than ‘eyes chink’ like some other verses I’ve heard. But can we at least think of some more creative racist epithets? @lilpump”
Lil Pump eventually responded to the relentless onslaught of online criticism by posting an apology on Instagram Christmas day.
“I seen the whole thing going on on the internet and all that,” he said. “I came here to tell you from my part that I’m sorry and I apologize for posting that. It was not my intentions to hurt nobody or do none of that… I got Asian homies, you know. I (expletive) with everybody and I got nothing against nobody. It’s all love.”