Dr. Umar once again lit the Internet on fire with his belief that Eminem should never enter the "best rapper of all time" conversation. According to him, doing so would constitute as white supremacy, as it's impossible for a non-Black person to excel the most at a Black art form, tradition, practice, etc. It was quite the topic of conversation online, albeit an old one, and there's not much wrong with that the psychologist and social media provocateur originally said. After all, it's just a take, and one that he recently clarified during a new social media video. In it, the North Philly native explained how this is nothing personal against Marshall Mathers, but rather a matter of cultural preservation and adherence.
"I said that no non-African can ever be the best of anything in African culture," Umar Johnson's IG Live clip began. "You can't be the best cook of African food, you can't be the best rapper of African hip-hop, you can't be the best singer, you can't be the best priest of African culture. Nothing we create can a non-African be the best at. First of all. It makes absolutely no sense at all.
Dr. Umar Revisits His Eminem Take: Watch
"I don't even see how an African can come to the conclusion that a non-African can be the best at anything when we are the oldest people," Dr. Umar went on. "We are the first people, and we are the most numerous people. So when you say a non-African is better at X, Y, and Z than a member of the race, you're saying that this person can do this better than two billion Africans. Or you're saying not only can they do it better than two billion Africans on the planet, you're saying they can do it better than all of the billions of Africans that have ever walked the planet Earth. You know and I know that that is absolutely ridiculous. You know like I know that that is absolutely ridiculous.
"This is not about Mr. Marshall Mathers, I don't have nothing personal against that man," he concluded. "But from a cultural integrity perspective, haven't they stolen enough from us? Haven't they appropriated enough from us? Haven't they robbed, [stolen], killed, enslaved, lynched, miseducated, mass-incarcerated, politically dominated us enough? You mean to tell me that after 404 years you got Black people running around playing defense attorney and cheerleader for white folks? The fact that you got Black people arguing for a white man to be considered the greatest of all time in an African art form speaks to how psychologically ill we are as a race of people." For more news and updates on Eminem and Umar Johnson, come back to HNHH.