Vic Mensa is not one to mince words, especially when it comes to issues concerning the black community. During a roundtable discussion on The Nightly Show With Larry Wilmore, the Roc Nation signee sounded off on cultural appropriation while discussing Justin Timberlake‘s response to Jesse William’s speech at the 2016 BET Awards.
“Our problem here is that Justin Timberlake himself–you know–is definitely benefiting from using black culture for his sound, his dance moves, his dancers, and blowing up off of it,” Mensa said. “But if you roll down Justin Timberlake’s Twitter for the past two years, which I just did, you see nothing that supports black people when it’s more difficult, when there’s a struggle.”
The Chicago rapper echoes the criticism Timberlake received after many believed the singer diminished his participation in cultural appropriation by insisting that everyone is the same, a comment he retracted later in an apology.
Oh, you sweet soul. The more you realize that we are the same, the more we can have a conversation.
— Justin Timberlake (@jtimberlake) June 27, 2016
I apologize to anyone that felt I was out of turn. I have nothing but LOVE FOR YOU AND ALL OF US.
–JT
— Justin Timberlake (@jtimberlake) June 27, 2016
“We’re not feeling him being down when it’s beneficial to him and turning a blind eye when it could be dangerous,” Mensa continued.
He kept it blunt when he issued his final thoughts on the topic. “Sit down until you show us you care. Don’t tell us sh*t unless you show us you care,” he said. Even so, he took to Twitter to clarify that it wasn’t his intention to bash Timberlake with his message, but to shed light on the bigger issue at hand.
My statements on @TheNightlyShow were not to bash Justin timberlake. I was just shedding some light on the idea of cultural appropriation
— still alive (@VicMensa) June 30, 2016
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