Dr. Umar declines Eminem’s place in the GOAT rappers list.
Eminem’s place in the best rappers list is once again a trending topic on social media, following remarks by Dr. Umar Johnson. The popular Activist and psychologist made an appearance on The Joe Budden podcast, where he stated that Eminem can’t be one of the best rapper because he’s not black.
“This is going to my African fundamentalism,” said Umar on The Joe Budden Podcast. “No non-African can ever be the best of anything African. It is an insult to the ancestors, it is an insult to the race and it is an insult to every Black person … We gotta stop naming non-African people as the best of any aspect of our cultural power because it is an insult … I can acknowledge Eminem’s talent, but for you to put him at the top, that’s white supremacy.”
“Bro, tired of people making everything about race. Can’t stand this cancel culture. Eminem is one of the greats and let him have that title. It’s well deserved,” a fan wrote. “How y’all upset with a black man advocating for black people smh,” shared another. “Yall want equality but say ignorant stuff like this,” wrote another. “Man say what you want,Eminem will eat up almost any rapper ever lived! Super lyrical,” comments another.
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Following his comments, Dr. Umar doubles down on the remarks through Instagram live. “When I look at the responses from America’s Caucasian community over this issue of Eminem being the G.O.A.T. of Hip Hop… and let me say this: I have nothing personal against Eminem,” he said.
“My comments had nothing to do with Mr. Marshall Mathers personally. And I want Mr. Marshall Mathers to understand that Dr. Umar Ifatunde harbors no personal ill will towards you. You are a talented musician, lyricist, producer. You seem like you are an okay guy.”
“So my comments are not personal; they apply to any non-African. This is about business, the business of protecting the integrity of African culture. But from a cultural integrity perspective, haven’t they stolen enough from us? Haven’t they appropriated enough from us? Haven’t they robbed, stole, killed, enslaved, lynched, miseducated, mass incarcerated, politically dominated us enough?”
“The fact that you got Black people arguing for a white man to be considered the greatest of all time in an African artform speaks to how psychologically ill we are as a race of people,” he added.
