Open Thread: Alicia Keys

by Latoya Peterson

In the May issue of Blender magazine – which hits stores tomorrow (April 15) – the Grammy award winning singer said
that she believes the government created gansta rap as a “ploy to convince black people to kill each other.”

Keys also said the government perpetuated the bi-coastal hip-hop feud that snuffed the lives of rap greats Tupac and the Notorious B.I.G., “to stop another great black leader from existing.”

This is a side of the artist fans haven’t really seen. The side that sports a gold AK-47 charm around her neck which she says symbolizes, “strength, power and killing ‘em dead.” SOURCE

On the way to work this morning, I heard Alicia Keys giving a radio interview to clarify her comments. She stood by her basic statements, but says that somehow, her words got a bit twisted. Take, for example, the AK-47 pendant. That was apparently an in-joke as her friends call her AK (for Alicia Keys) and the “strength, power, and killing ‘em dead” was in reference to her performances. She also said she did not blame the government for gangsta rap, but the government did encourage this kind of violence and did not take the steps needed to quell the coming violence in certain communities. And so on.

I’ve heard a lot of people weigh in on this one, but here are my favorites.

Jay Smooth kills it as usual:

Some other thoughts from Average Bro, dnA, and Lauren & Cord from Stereohyped.

Your thoughts on Keys’ comments and the fallout?