According to AllHipHop.com and a host of other media outlets buzzing around the web, Kendrick Lamar and his team are calling out GQ for the use of racial overtones in their cover story. The popular "Men of the Year" issue portrayed images that were "not accurate and felt biased," says Anthony "Top Dawg" Tiffith.
GQ editor-in-chief, Jim Nelson seems baffled by the upset.
“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.” Here's the thing: America is not accustomed to young African descendants being so outspoken on the rebuttal with power companies like GQ. Generally, the excitement, and appreciation would over shadow any other feelings I guess. Well not this time. Anthony "Top Dawg" Tiffith says they can't go for that.
"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.”
