Rapper Lil Wayne has once again denounced the Black Lives Matter movement.
In an interview with ABC's "Nightline," the musician told interviewer Linsey Davis that America already "understands" that black lives matter, pointing to his own success as a famous, rich black man as proof. Here's his response to her question as to whether or not he identifies with BLM:
Davis: What’s your thought on Black Lives Matter?
Lil Wayne: What is it? What do you mean?
Davis: The idea was that there’s this movement called Black Lives Matter, thinking that the rest of America didn’t seem to understand that black lives matter.
Wayne: That just sounds weird, I don’t know, that you put a name on… It’s not a name; it’s not, ‘whatever, whatever.’ It’s ‘somebody got shot by a policeman for a f***ed up reason.’
“I am a young black rich muthaf***er. If that don’t let you know that America understands black f***ers matter these days, I don’t know what it is.”
“Don’t come at me with that dumb s***, ma’am. My life matter. Especially to my f***ers."
Davis: Do you separate yourself from it?
Wayne: I don’t feel connected to a damn thing that ain’t got nothin’ to do with me. If you do, you crazy as s***. You.
Lil Wayne has been in the news recently for saying there's "no such thing as racism," both on Fox Sports 1’s Undisputed with Skip Bayless as well as in an interview explaining how a white cop saved his life at the age of 12.
He has clearly taken a differing viewpoint on the Black Lives Matter movement than many of his peers in the music business. It will be interesting to see if others follow his perspective on the matter, as Wayne is highly respected in his industry for his contributions to the rap genre.
Check out the video for yourself (but be warned, it includes some explicit language):