Stephen A. Smith defends Snoop Dogg and Soulja Boy (and others) performance at Trump inauguration events
The popular sports analyst and personality defended artists' rights to make money, especially those who have done so much for the Black community.
Snoop Dogg (and others like Nelly, Soulja Boy and Rick Ross) performing at various inauguration events in support of President Trump has understandably caused quite a bit of conversation in the Black community. There are people who find those entertainers willing to support a man who has been, at best, divisive and, at worst, outwardly racist to be a slap in the face to their fanbases and the Black community, in general.
Stephen A. Smith, though, defended entertainers against the backlash and criticism (and those who even may have voted for Trump) on his popular YouTube show, “The Stephen A. Smith Show.” He even reached back to defend Ice Cube, who in 2020 was criticized for calling out the Democratic Party’s lack of dedication to the Black community and then had a sit-down meeting with Republicans and Democrats regarding the “Contract With Black America” he championed. (In a late 2024 interview, Ice Cube cleared up that he’s neither a supporter of Trump, nor MAGA.)
Smith shared a slide of statements made by political commentator Keith Boykin that implied that Black performers at Trump’s inauguration dishonored several Black communities negatively impacted by Trump, among others. Smith wonders if that means people who feel as Boykin does, don’t respect Black people who have concerns and issues about the country.
“What if this person voted for him because they broke and they think he’s going to put more money in their pocket? What if this person voted for him because they’re
in a crime ridden neighborhood and they feel leftists aren’t having the streets patrolled
well enough…There’s a whole bunch of reasons why people vote.”
Regarding the performers themselves, Smith believes that their right to make money supersedes what we believe their politics are, especially since artists like Snoop Dogg and Ice Cube (who didn’t perform, but Smith seems to have really felt a way about the way Cube was treated some years ago) have done so much for the communities they come from and the world through music; in essence, what they’ve given is more important than performing at Trump’s inauguration.
“Soulja Boy ain’t got a right to go make some money?…Snoop Dogg is worth over $100 million. He got a youth football league. This brother is sending cats to college. He sending cats to the NFL. We’re just going to ignore that? Because he performed at the inauguration? …When you turned against Ice Cube, is unforgivable. It’s unforgivable. Ice Cube, N.W.A., Ice Cube, Dre, Eazy E, all of them….And then Snoop came aboard, Warren G. and the whole crew. They took the rap game to another level?… Do you know how many Black people have been employed because of hip hop?… They transformed the world.”
For his part, Snoop Dogg has not responded to criticism about his performance, posting regularly as if it doesn’t really exist.
Nelly on the other hand, has defended his choice as a reflection of his military family background and commitment to respecting the office of the president, no matter who is in the seat– an argument which in and of itself, has led to yet another round of backlash.
Panama Jackson is a columnist at theGrio and host of the award-winning podcast, “Dear Culture” on theGrio Black Podcast Network. He writes very Black things, drinks very brown liquors, and is pretty fly for a light guy. His biggest accomplishment to date coincides with his Blackest accomplishment to date in that he received a phone call from Oprah Winfrey after she read one of his pieces (biggest) but he didn’t answer the phone because the caller ID said “Unknown” (Blackest).
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