Kendrick Lamar was pulled from performing at the GQ Man of The Year party by Top Dawg Entertainment after CEO Anthony "Top Dawg" Tiffith complained about the "racial overtones" in the magazine's profile on the rapper. The announcement sent readers (including ourselves) scurrying to pick up the Man of The Year issue and check out who was in the right/wrong.
Tiffith, who acknowledged that it was a "tremendous honor" for Lamar to be listed among the magazine's Men of The Year list, was offended by what he perceived to be racial overtones in the body of the story. One instance he specifically quoted was writer Steve Marsh commenting that he was "surprised" at the discipline of the TDE crew. Some have suggested that Marsh compared Lamar too much to fellow Compton rappers such as Tupac Shakur, a mainstay in the '90s gangsta rap scene that Lamar-although a Tupac fan-strives to avoid in his own music. Indeed, the most wince-worthy bit in the article, in our opinion, was a line where Marsh describes Tiffith as "basically TDE's Suge Knight." Knight, a convicted felon, was the head of Death Row Records.
The racial issues are certainly subtle at best, but certainly arguable nonetheless. GQ editor in chief Jim Nelson stood by his man, releasing a statement Friday evening.
"Kendrick Lamar is one of the most talented new musicians to arrive on the scene in years," he wrote. "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."
Lamar himself hasn't commented on the issue.
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