Rapper Kanye West posted a picture of singer/ rapper Lauryn Hill on Instagram to stress one of his many points about the entertainment industry and how it pillages the lives of those it makes into mega-stars.
He captioned, “Love is the answer God is Love Does anyone wonder what Ms. Hill’s recording contract looked like and why she stopped recording professionally. We no longer will be used to oppression Kweli was right on so many things. Sway was right. When you sell your name and likeness Let’s free ourselves and bring back this frequency #lovespeech.”
Hill’s daughter, who was one of the models in Kanye’s “White Lives Matter” fashion show in Paris Fashion Week, jumped in the comments and confirmed how bad it was, saying, “IT WAS F#####.”‘
The godfather of Hip-Hop, Russell Simmons, commented, helping to curate the conversation as a creative and an executive, “you have the power and support to do it all … why fight?”
“There is nothing stopping you,” he wrote. “There are super powerful Black lawyers in music now, we didn’t have that. Independent platforms, we didn’t have that. Independent manufacturers and all kinds of distribution for whatever, you can create. Just do it without Nike owning it. You do it. Not Nike.”
Uncle Rush continued, “You said it yourself it’s the ‘slave mentality’ it’s a choice. Go out and make us proud now. But let’s undo … clear up … people using your name to promote hate. Love you.”
Lyricist extraordinaire Talib Kweli reposted Kanye’s post and said, “I didn’t want to be right. I wanted YOU to be right @kanyewest. You said on @drinkchamps that the people who were mad at your MAGA hat were the people that loved you. You were correct about that. The people who love you are going to be the only ones that tell you the truth. Stay away from anti-black grifters like @realcandaceowens she ain’t got the answers Fam. Shout out to @realsway shout out to @mslaurynhill.”
The “People’s Party with Talib Kweli” podcaster said he did not hesitate to use this validation to check Consequence, a Kanye protégé and tangential member of A Tribe Called Quest.
“Ok but who’s gonna break the news to Dexter? @constv 😩😂,” he wrote referencing an argument they had of Con just days ago that went left and got very ugly.
Then, like the Brooklyn hustler he is, Talib posted about the new Black Star album, writing, “New @blackstarkeepshining no fear of time album on @hearluminary produced by @madlib because we will never again sell our name and likeness.”
