*As you can see from the Eminem clip above, during a cypher, he lit into the orange a-hole at the BET Hip Hop Awards Tuesday night.
Although most of the verse was spent putting his proverbial foot up Donald Trump‘s arse, Eminem did save room in his verse to big up a very special person. A few bars after reminding listeners how much better the state of the nation was under Barack Obama, Em reached a lyrical climax that began building the moment he started alluding to the administration’s beef with the NFL and came complete with him pledging his support for Colin Kaepernick.
“This is for Colin, ball up a fist, and keep that sh*t balled,” the 44-year-old rapper spit. He also clarified, as many in the movement have, that his grievance wasn’t with the military or American flag, but with the man in the oval office.
The response to the rap performance has been nothing but positive from the rap/hip hop/sports community and beyond. Snoop Dogg, T.I., LeBron James, and other big names have given their collective thumbs up. That’s cool and all, but the approval that really counts is from Kaepernick himself, who tweeted:
“I appreciate you @Eminem,” with a brown fist emoji.
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In other news about the NFL, protests and Trump, actor/rapper Common is sharing his (and a lot of other’s) belief that Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones showed his “slave owner mentality” side when he recently dictated that any Cowboys player who does anything “disrespectful to the flag” would not play.
Common explained his belief to a TMZ photog that Jones’ approach on the matter of protesting is actually unpatriotic because the decision blocks the freedom of speech for players.
“To me, it’s an owner mentality,” Common said. “It’s like a slave owner mentality, to be honest. Like, ‘You gonna do what I say on this.’ Nobody disrespecting the job. Nobody is on the job doing disrespectful things. They’re just saying this is how I want to place my body during this anthem.”
While questioning why specific gestures are deemed acceptable, and others are unwelcomed, Common states that individuals should be able to do what they please during the anthem.
“People choosing to put a hand over their hearts. What makes their gesture better than somebody else who may be praying during the national anthem, or somebody says ‘their kneeling what they believe in,’ we should be able to do that because this is what this country is about.”
Correction, Common. That’s what this country is SUPPOSED to be about.
