The Roots fixture Questlove has been having a great summer. The concert documentary he directed and executive produced, Summer of Soul, has been lauded far and wide since being released on Hulu earlier this month.
The multi-hyphenate Philadelphian known as one of the greatest drummers of all time released a statement condemning the homophobic remarks of embattled emcee DaBaby, words that have been trending all week.
The “Rockstar” rapper then fired back, claiming he doesn’t even know who Questlove is.
In an Instagram post on Thursday, Questlove listed artists who would be his dream performers if Summer of Soul was produced today, and he noted The Roots, A Tribe Called Quest, The Isley Brothers, Rihanna, Sade, Megan Thee Stallion, DaBaby, Hiatus Kaiyote and Sault. DaBaby’s name, although listed, is clearly crossed out.
“And now I’m updating my list — because it’s 2021 & f–k the bulls–t,” Questlove declared before getting into the details of why he’s upset with him. “I’m especially not here for any savagery (if you’re lost: Google the idiocy of the crossed out).”
Questlove then said that he wasn’t trying to make headlines, only take a stance. “Right is right & his actions are wrong,” he added. “Somebody Gotta say it: Homophobia/Transphobia/Xenophobia/Misogyny/Racism–this should go w/o saying is morally wrong.”
In response to Quest, DaBaby shared his IG post, writing, “I ain’t even tryna be funny when i say… I do NOT KNOW WHO DIS NI**A IS DAWG.”
“& do not care bout loosing you as a fan my boy lol,” the rapper added. “You or any other ni**a who wanna play follow the leader. This superstar you was a fan of is STAND UP ni**a Yeen never seen one of these huh?”
Fans couldn’t help but respond with shock and awe.
“DABABY IS GOING OUT SAD!!! HOW IS HE DISSING QUESTLOVE? OMG,” one wrote on Twitter.
Others — including producer Joseph Patel, who toiled aside Questlove to being Summer of Soul to screens — pointed out that Quest backed DaBaby on drums when the rapper performed on The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon, where the drummer is musical director.
Veteran journalist Keith Murphy wrote: “If you’ve listened to Erykah Badu, D’Angelo, Common, Amy Winehouse, Jill Scott, or John Legend then you def. heard of Questlove. As for DaBaby, dude was actually backed by The Roots (Quest’s band) on the Tonight Show. He’s just ignant as hell…lol.”
Another viral tweet made the clash even more clear: “Saying you don’t know who Questlove is should strip you of hip hop credibility.”
As previously reported, DaBaby recently performed at the Rolling Loud Festival in Miami, where he said from the stage, “If you didn’t show up today with HIV, AIDS, or any of them deadly sexually transmitted diseases, then put your cellphone lighter up. Ladies, if your p—y smell like water, put your cellphone lighter up. Fellas, if you ain’t sucking d–k in the parking lot, put your cellphone lighter up.”
He said he was just “keeping it real.”
The Charlotte rapper then doubled down on the comments days later, posting a five-minute-long Instagram rant in which he made more homophobic comments.
He has been chastised by artists, including Madonna, Chris Brown and now Questlove. The rapper has also lost several endorsements and performance opportunities.
At the end of his Instagram screed, Questlove posted quite plainly: “Huey Newton wisely stated in the early 70s that we as a people should NEVER go so low in life (with what we been through) that we start oppressing/terrorizing the next man in the way we been terrorized for centuries.”
“Y’all gonna learn,” he concluded, “that there are other human beings living in the same space you are.”
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