Akon’s left fans shocked following resurfaced comments from his appearance on The Joe Budden Podcast where he shared rather outdated views on gender roles.
The “Lonely” singer appeared on the podcast in December but the comments recently emerged, sparking outrage online. During the interview, he began to discuss the difference in gender roles in Africa compared to America. And while some might consider his views outdated, Akon would likely agree since he stated that there was better balance in the 1950s.
“The women [there] treat you like a king. They’re not competing with you, they’re not fighting for equality because they understand that men and women could never be equal. They understand their roles. The roles there are very defined, it’s very clean,” he said before stating that men and women balance each other. “‘How can a man and women play the exact same role, where’s the balance?’”
He then explained that women were created to endure more emotional labor throughout their lives. He explained it's because “God instilled love, emotions, and compassion in a woman.”
“This is why women catch feelings so quick, this is why they can endure so much pain and still be there, that loyalty comes naturally,” Akon added. At this point of the interview, he explained that the "role of a woman is to support the man."
"The men, we are the kings and the divine of this universe, a woman can never to compare to the man," he added, while adding that America could benefit from this knowledge.
The most shocking claim during his rant on gender roles was when he said that women don’t actually create life.
“The women don’t create life, they support the creation of life. The man is who creates life, we’re gods, we are the ones that create life,” he said. “‘If I wanted to create life right now with a woman, I would shoot my sperm, put it in an incubator and give it nine month, even maybe less with today’s science, and a baby will be born. A woman can’t do that. So men, we are the creators of life in actuality.”
All in all, not everyone was feeling his comments surrounding women and gender roles. Though he seemed unapologetic of his analysis, many individuals called him out for sharing outdated views on such a big platform.