Chet Hanks, aka Shabba Hanks, isn’t done yet, and it’s clear Popcaan is his favorite dancehall act.
Chet Hanks, who is also known in hip hop as Chet Haze, went viral yesterday with his bizarre Jamaican accent video. Tom Hanks son to Instagram once again this afternoon to prove (to himself we assume) that he is down with the reggae/dancehall movement. The artist who goes by the name Chet Haze, more recently, just Chet Hanks even promoted his newest “banger,” by encouraging fans in a Jamaican patois accent to check the link in his bio for more music.
This all comes following Sunday night’s Golden Globes ceremony, where Chet, the son of actor Tom Hanks displayed some bizarre behavior on the red carpet. The rapper/ actor accompanied his parents and three siblings to the Hollywood awards show where he posted a video to his Instagram from the red carpet speaking what appeared to be Jamaican patois, an English-based creole language with West African influences.
Needless to say, the Internet went wild, and the Instagram post was liked more than 300,000 times. In the video, Chet says, “Big up, big up the whole island massive, it’s your boy Chet, coming straight from the Golden Globes, you know what I’m sayin’.”
The odd post left many confused, while other emotions ranged from amusement to anger. “Shabba Hanks,” one Instagrammer wrote. Another, however, said, “…this would have been called out for being racist a LONG time ago. Why is he getting a pass because it is a “Jamaican” accent.
Chet’s mother, Rita Wilson, obviously in her son’s corner, said it might’ve been “the best laugh of the night.” Chet’s father Tom Hanks, who accepted the Cecil B. DeMille Award, has remained quiet.
In both response and defense of his action, Chet dismissed the negative comments in a follow-up post where he wrote: “Average citizens: damn this is scary I can’t believe we’re on the verge of WW3 let me check the news smh, then “CNN:” followed by a series of laughing emojis.
Chet then continued with another slightly more offensive video of himself speaking Jamaican patois as walks out of a juice bar early Monday morning. “Me wake up this morning and me see the thing turn up,” he wrote. “The internet gone mad!”
The rapper who once said he identifies with the “black/hip-hop culture,” and even fathered a biracial daughter has now quadrupled down posting yet another video where he is speaking in Jamaican Patois accent, and plugging his original music. “HAD 2 #OVADWEET 1 TIME MI DROP 1 BIG CHUNE PON SOUNDCLOUD GO LISTEN RIGHT NOW LINK IN BIO LINK IN BIO LINK IN BIO!!!!!!!!!!!!!! #HARLEY #HARLEY #HARLEY GOIN UP LIKE 7 STR88888888,” he wrote while playing Popcaan single “Ova Dweet.”
The Unruly Boss responded in the comments section writing, “Bombocl**t!!!! trouble.”
But let’s get serious was this debacle really a laughing matter? Or was it a serious display of cultural appropriation?
If you recalled back in 2015, Chet found himself in similar hot water after using the N-word repeatedly in his music and social media. At the time, he defended himself but never apologize for his actions while saying that he identifies with hip hop which is not about race, but more about culture.
Again in 2018, when asked about his use of the n-word during Van Lathan’s Red Pill podcast, the actor/ rapper did not apologize and instead provided “reasoning” behind his “artistic expression” — and ultimately blamed drugs for his flawed logic.
It sounds like Chet’s short stint on Fox’s Empire may have gone to his head. Samantha is now planning to write a book based on her experiences.
