In the wake of the tragic passing of Migos member Takeoff, there has been a lot of conversation about violence in the Hip Hop community. Atlanta star LaKeith Stanfield shared his thoughts about the “toxicity” in Hip Hop culture.
“If you are for gangster rap you can’t also be for Black,” posted LaKeith Stanfield to his Instagram page on Monday. The San Bernardino-born entertainer then wrote a lengthy caption further explaining his point of view.
Stanfield added, “The dangerous toxicity associated with this glorified black serial killer and killed music and imagery got people thinking it’s cool to hurt those that look like them and ONLY them.”
He continued, “It’s ok to embrace the realities of life in the harder areas but let’s think about NOT holding up this behavior in our circles. Let’s make it cool to embrace life, travel, and learn new things!”
LaKeith Stanfield Tells His Followers To “Turn That Stupid S### Off”
According to reports, a gunman killed Takeoff on November 1 in Houston, Texas. The rapper born Kirshnik Khari Ball was 28 years old at the time of his death. Local police are still investigating the shooting.
Takeoff was the latest rapper to lose his life from gun violence. Over the last twelve months, several other Hip Hop recording artists – such as Young Dolph, Trouble, and PnB Rock – lost their lives at the hands of a shooter.
“I know that the scope of issues we have to contend with is much larger than just this and that we have a lot of work to do in many areas to restore our hearts and minds after centuries of persecution and manipulation, but we have to start somewhere,” wrote LaKeith Stanfield. “At some level, we have to see our lives as valuable so that we think before we react and see another human when we look at a Human man.”
Stanfield concluded, “We must stop holding self-destructive s### up and embrace things that build us a whole so that we can lead the world in the direction of prosperity by example. Getting reckless now and again is part of who we are but for the most part… Turn that stupid s### off.”
In addition to appearing on the FX series Atlanta, LaKeith Stanfield also acted in films like Selma, Straight Outta Compton, Sorry to Bother You, Get Out, and The Harder They Fall. He earned a Best Supporting Actor Oscar nomination for his role in Judas and the Black Messiah.
