J. Prince is taking matters into his own hands after the Grammys confirmed that they rescinded Kanye West's invitation to perform at the award ceremony this year. Citing "concerning online behavior," Ye's recent statements surrounding his ex-wife, Kim Kardashian, her boyfriend, Pete Davidson, and specifically the Grammy award host, Trevor Noah, have rattled the internet, prompting the Grammy committee to take action.
As the Grammys pulled Ye's performance, there have been calls to Coachella to similarly remove him from this year's line-up. However, J. Prince has called out the committee for pattern behavior surrounding Black artists. Over the years, we've seen Drake, The Weeknd, and Nicki Minaj, among many other Black artists snubbed for their work. The Rap-A-Lot boss called for a boycott of the Grammys in a post that he titled Hip Hop Vs. The Grammys.
"I've been watching the Grammys control and dictate our culture, to their benefit, up close and personal for the past 30 years that I've been in the music business," Prince began, explaining that executives, artists, and managers have largely complained behind the scenes "but never had the nuts to come together to do anything about it."
"Even though the latest episode deals with Trevor Noah and the canceling of Kanye, this racist act is so much bigger than them," he continued before breaking down the parallels between the words "cancel" and "counsel" to the Grammys and "legal slavery" and "rehabilitation" to the U.S. prison system.
"If we begin with 'counsel' and 'rehabilitation' in the Grammys or the penitentiary, the truth is that they really don't exist. They're just fancy lies. On the other hand, if we look at the words 'cancel' and 'legal slavery punishment,' those words are true, real, and exist today," Prince said before citing the 13th amendment. He said by the constitution's standards, those currently incarcerated and former inmates "are considered slaves in the United States and under its jurisdiction in 2022." He added that the laws that came after the abolishment of slavery were created to lawfully enslave inmates.
"This background is important to know because of the mentality of those that control both -- the Grammys and the prison system in the United States. This is a 'slave-master-punish-a-n***a mentality and act' to remind us no matter how much money we have, we are still n***as in their eyes," he said, citing their recent move against Kanye, and frequent snubs against Drake, The Weeknd, and Nicki Minaj are proof of wider discrimination in the Grammys.
"This will only be broken by us uniting our powers to bring about change moving forward," he continued. "I recommend that the artists that I've mentioned above and more come together in Las Vegas and perform at the same time as the Grammys on a special network and streaming platform to prove that ratings will change where the Grammys are concerned when the #1 selling genre in music -- hip-hop -- comes together because there's power in numbers."
He concluded, "The powers that be will be mad at me about this one but fuck 'em! I love the culture. The seed has been planted. Let's water it."
Check the post below.