Anti-Bush
statements still don’t fly these days. The
latest target is Jackson, Miss., rapper Kamikaze, who was recently banned by student
representatives at Mississippi’s Millsaps College after he criticized the war
in Iraq during a performance.Kamikaze,
one-half of rap group Crooked Lettaz with David Banner, was invited to speak and
perform at Millsaps as part of the college’s sexual awareness week. During
an interlude in his set, the rapper made comments about current U.S. president
George W. Bush, infuriating members of the audience."I
prefaced it by saying ‘I know that a lot of you, or some of you, won’t agree with
what I’m saying and you’re entitled to your opinion, as I am entitled to mine’,"
Kamikaze told AllHipHop.com. "There is a real strong Young Republican contingent
at this school."In
his speech, the rapper accused Bush of pursuing oil and engaging America in a
senseless war in Iraq, and also insisted that the government lied to start the
war. "The
Bush thing was a piece of it [but] the other part was ‘get out and vote,’"
Kamikaze reasons. "The end of it is what probably p##### the Young Republicans
off. I was like ‘you guys need to register to vote, so next November we can get
somebody in office that’s not like Bush. I feel like an orangutan could run the
country better than Bush right now.’"Kamikaze,
whose latest single "U Sked" is featured on NBA Live 2007, added
that his show was profanity-free, although some members of the crowd did yell
‘f**k Bush’ at one point. According
to him, however, members of the Young Republican Party later complained about
the show. He received a letter from Millsaps College the next day, chastising
him for his comments on President Bush.In
the letter, Student Body Association president Stephen Bradford Yakots stated,
"While the students at the college rightfully supported sexual awareness
week at the college…some were treated to no other than a tacky, senseless
and an absolutely astonishing, explicit blasphemy of the sitting President of
the United States; an act that represented the worst that Millsaps College could
offer to its students and alumni that were present, wanting to enjoy an evening
of the performing arts. The Student Body Association and the Socializing Activities
and Performing for Students Board (S.A.P.S.) has no use for your shameful, adolescent
and worthless view point of our leader and therefore will not be supporting any
more visits made by you to our campus."Yakots
was not available for comment at press time.Ironically,
the latest controversy to besiege Bush’s White House involves former Republican
Party member Mark Foley, of Florida, who recently resigned after emails expressing
his interest in a 16-year-old male page rocked the GOP.Foley,
who was founder and co-chair of the Congressional Missing and Exploited Children’s
Caucus, served six terms in Congress. Investigators
believe he repeatedly emailed the boy, making conversation and seeking pictures,
which the boy said "freaked me out."While
Kamikaze admitted that the Foley scandal had nothing to do with the comments he
made about Bush on Sept. 28, he claimed the boycott was rife with hypocrisy. "They’re
trying to be so holier than thou, and they have to be married with the 2.5 kids
and go to church every week, when they know when they get home and get on their
computer, they’re emailing young boys, and they’re pedophiles," Kamikaze
told AllHipHop.com. "It’s just crazy to see the hypocrisy that exists within
politics."Me
and Banner came into this game and we always said we were going to use music to
make some kind of change. We have always put something socially related into it,"
he continued. "And whenever we have a crowd in front of us, we address. If
you have fans that you have that you can influence in one way or another, it’s
an obligation for you to say something. We have to let folks know we aren’t up
here to just rap. We are artists who are concerned with what’s going on in our
communities. Anytime I do a show, I am speaking on social issues."Millsap’s
Student Body Letter To Kamikaze – Page
