Singer and rapper Nelly has been catching a lot of heat after his performance at Donald Trump’s inauguration ball. For the rapper’s critics, they thought he shouldn’t have performed for a president they didn’t agree with. However, Dr. Umar has defended Nelly’s inauguration ball performance. He called the backlash against the singer hypocritical and asked that everyone maintain the same attitude toward entertainers regardless of who they perform for.
Dr. Umar Defends Nelly’s Inauguration Ball Performance
Dr. Umar doesn’t believe Nelly deserves the angry responses to his inauguration ball performance. After observing the backlash to the latter’s performance, he took to social media to share his opinion with fans. Umar stated that the criticism against Nelly, Snoop Dogg, and other black artists arose because of Nelly’s performance at Donald Trump’s inauguration ball.
Umar noted that it was a “contradiction” for fans to be okay with artists performing for Joe Biden, Barack Obama, and Bill Clinton while being angry at those who performed for Donald Trump.
“None of these politicians or political parties have done anything to help African people. So if you’re going to criminalize Nelly for being paid to perform at Donald Trump’s inauguration, that means no black person should be performing at any inauguration because none of them do anything to help our people,” he said.
Dr. Umar Calls Out Hypocrisy in The Black Community
Dr Umar had more to say about the reactions to Nelly’s inauguration ball performance. He boldly asserted that Nelly’s critics wouldn’t have responded to his performance if it was at Kamala Harris’ inauguration, “even though she has no history of helping black people.” He asked why no one had called out those who had performed at previous presidential inaugurations.
“Why is there a difference in attitude? None of the political parties help black people,” Umar claimed.
He added:
“All of them have done wrong to our community, so unless we are going to ban everybody from performing at presidential inaugurations, then you shouldn’t be saying nothing to Nelly.”
The musician claimed that former president Joe Biden “spent his whole career fighting against public school desegregation, but you didn’t get mad at black people for performing at Joe Biden’s inauguration. Donald Trump is an enemy to African people,” Umar opined before adding that Harris, Biden, and Obama are too.
Dr. Umar Won’t Perform For Donald Trump
Meanwhile, in his defense of Nelly’s inauguration ball performance, Dr. Umar clarified that he won’t accept an invitation to perform for President Donald Trump. He explained that his roles as an activist, organizer, and pan-Africanist would prevent him. However, he remarked that Nelly isn’t bound to those positions. Hence, he is free to accept any invitation to perform as an entertainer.
He said:
“Is it wrong for Nelly to do it? No, Nelly is not an activist or an organizer. He is an entertainer, and he was paid to entertain. It was a business arrangement. Unless we’re gonna hold everybody accountable, you can’t hold anybody accountable.”
Umar also criticized those who followed celebrities who had not helped the black community but slammed Nelly for performing.
Dr. Umar is right to hold everyone accountable for their actions and avoid hypocrisy. His comments have sparked a discussion, as many think he is right while others think he is off-point.
#Clique, what do you think of Dr. Umar’s words? Let us know in the comments.
