Hey, remember how just yesterday we said that we “have to wonder what other ludicrous events are set to transpire between now and when Kanye’s next solo album comes out”? Well, Kanye West is nothing if not reliable, and has now attempted to clarify some controversial comments he made in which he states that slavery of African Americans was a “choice”.
Earlier this morning, Kanye appeared on a live chart with TMZ in which he touched on a lot of topics, including his previously unknown opiate addiction that occurred after receiving liposuction. However, it was Kanye’s comments on slavery that attracted the most controversy.
“I’m a black person, a [member] of the black community, but I’m not just that,” Kanye said. “I’m always gonna represent that, but I also represent the world.”
“When you hear about slavery for 400 years – for 400 years?! That sounds like a choice,” he argued as TMZ‘s presenters looked visibly uncomfortable. “Like, you was there for 400 years and it’s all of y’all? It’s like we’re mentally in prison.”
Soon though, TMZ reporter Van Lathan took Kanye to task for his comments, confronting him in a way that many have probably wanted to for quite some time.
“I actually don’t think you’re thinking anything,” Lathan said. “I think what you’re doing right now is actually the absence of thought.”
“While you are making music and being an artist and living the life that you’ve earned by being a genius, the rest of us in society have to deal with these threats to our lives,” he continued. “We have to deal with the marginalisation that has come from the 400 years of slavery that you said for our people was a choice.”
“Frankly I am disappointed, I’m appalled, and brother, I am unbelievably hurt by the fact that you have morphed into something that is not real.”
Following these controversial remarks, which have generated more discussion in just a few hours than a lot of Kanye’s previous actions, West took to Twitter to try and clarify the remarks he made.
“We need to have open discussions and ideas on unsettled pain to make myself clear. Of course I know that slaves did not get shackled and put on a boat by free will,” he wrote on Twitter.
“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. “They cut out our tongues so we couldn’t communicate to each other. I will not allow my tongue to be cut.”
Following a Tweet in which he compared himself to slavery abolitionist Harriet Tubman and famous rebel Nat Turner, Kanye explained that the discussion on race issues needs to be updated.
“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.”
“Once again I am being attacked for presenting new ideas.”
While there’s every chance that Kanye might be a little bit quieter following this controversial incident, the past shows us that, if he gets knocked down, he gets right back up again, so keep an eye on The Brag for more news on Kanye’s questionable decisions over the coming month.
Check out Kanye West’s full Twitter rampage below:
https://twitter.com/kanyewest/status/991459083797413888
https://twitter.com/kanyewest/status/991459400018624512
https://twitter.com/kanyewest/status/991459902718492682
https://twitter.com/kanyewest/status/991460307208847360
https://twitter.com/kanyewest/status/991460425538547712
https://twitter.com/kanyewest/status/991460564839772160
https://twitter.com/kanyewest/status/991460675871375360
https://twitter.com/kanyewest/status/991466055947071488
https://twitter.com/kanyewest/status/991466129821392896
https://twitter.com/kanyewest/status/991466191536377858
https://twitter.com/kanyewest/status/991466506725744642
https://twitter.com/kanyewest/status/991466590758518784
https://twitter.com/kanyewest/status/991466711583895553
https://twitter.com/kanyewest/status/991467468655755264
https://twitter.com/kanyewest/status/991476958721556487
