(AllHipHop News) Kendrick Lamar and GQ are clashing over a cover story in the magazine’s coveted “Men of the Year” issue.
Kendrick and the TDE crew took exception to language in the article that seemed to suggest that African Americans rappers were generally lazy womanizing drug abusers. Additionally, the piece talked at length about the violence in Compton, where Kendrick was reared.
Jim Nelson, GQ editor-in-chief, spoke his peace over the disagreement.
“Kendrick Lamar is one of the most talented new musicians to arrive on the scene in years. That’s the reason we chose to celebrate him, wrote an incredibly positive article declaring him the next King of Rap, and gave him our highest honor: putting him on the cover of our Men of the Year issue. I’m not sure how you can spin that into a bad thing, and I encourage anyone interested to read the story and see for themselves. We were mystified and sorely disappointed by Top Dawg’s decision to pull him at the last minute from the performance he had promised to give. The real shame is that people were deprived of the joy of seeing Kendrick perform live. I’m still a huge fan.”
Earlier in the week, Kendrick skipped a performance at GQ’s Men of the Year party in apparent protest.
Top Dawg Entertainment’s Anthony “Top Dawg” Tiffith told TMZ, the images portrayed in the story were not accurate and felt biased.
“The interview portrayed him and his company in a negative light and he won’t stand for it. To say he was ‘surprised at our discipline’ is completely disrespectful … Kendrick deserved to be accurately documented. The racial overtones immediately reminded everyone of a time in hip-hop that was destroyed by violence, resulting in the loss of two of our biggest stars [Tupac and B.I.G.] … As a result of this misrepresentation, I pulled Kendrick from his performance at GQ’s annual Man Of The Year party. While we think it’s a tremendous honor to be named as one of the Men Of The Year, these lazy comparisons and offensive suggestions are something we won’t tolerate.”