The recent Kendrick Lamar and Drake beef has been part of the national conversation for days. So when the TMZ cameras caught up with The Cosby Show alum Malcolm-Jamal Warner, he gave his thoughts about the battle and the perception of what it does to the hip-hop culture.
When the topic was brought up, the TMZ cameraperson asked Warner, who also starred on the popular sitcom Malcolm & Eddie
, if he thought the mud-slinging between the two hip-hop heavyweights was detrimental to the genre. He responded that the bad elements of the culture have been normalized, even with rappers calling each other the N-word and the subject matter that appears in a lot of rap songs tends to cater to either “murkin’” somebody, selling and/or taking drugs, and misogyny.The actor said, “It’s been normalized for us to call ourselves the N-word. We like to talk about how we’ve taken the power of that word back. I’m of the school of thought that if I am trying to speak love and upliftment to my brother, why am I going to borrow a word from people who hate me?”
He added, “Our music is not reflecting of positivity, love, and upliftment of our culture. So much of our Black music is anti-Black.”
Warner ended by pointing out that the music could have a balance to it and not be negative most of the time. He blames the media for focusing on the ignorant side of hip-hop. He said that attention should be given to music that is being played in underground circles that is dope and promotes positivity and is not viewed in such a negative way.
He added that Black music needs the balance away from the stereotypical music we listen to today.
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