Lil Uzi Vert is throwing his support behind Jack Harlow, who recently came under fire by black hip hop fans that he does not know the history of hip hop and that his progress up the ranks is due to white privilege.
The criticisms arose after Jack Harlow shared weeks ago that he did not know that R&B legend Brandy and Ray J were brothers and sisters, and he also could not identify Brandy for her song, which was among the biggest to be released that decade.
India Arie had dragged the rapper and accused him of capitalizing on black culture.
Some have defended the rapper noting his age and that many people also did not know that Brandy and Ray J were siblings.
Now, his labelmate Lil Uzi Vert is sharing that he fully supports the rapper and denies that his success is due to him benefitting from white privilege.
While aboard the TMZ bus outside Catch in Los Angeles on Memorial Day (May 30), Lil Uzi Vert was asked about Harlow.
Lil Uzi Vert, however, defended Harlow, noting that he was signed to Black folks because Generation Now is owned by DJ Drama, Don Cannon, and Lake Morrison.
“No, he’s really good,” Uzi said. “Yeah, he’s really good. He doesn’t have white privilege. He’s signed to Black people.”
Earlier this year, Top Dawg Entertainment’s Punch commented on Harlow’s “First Class” sample reaching No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100.
“It’s really crazy how exceptional we have to be as [opposed] to other folks,” he tweeted. “They just need a C+ average basically. If that. We really have to talk about it at some point.”
Hip Hop heavyweights David Banner and DMC of Run-DMC also commented on the issue to TMZ.
“White people in America … white people in the world are propped up on everything,” he said. “White people’s whiteness is a benefit to them everywhere in the world.”
DMC, however, said, “People are ignorant.” and “Art doesn’t have a color.”
Last October, Jack Harlow also spoke about the topic noting that he doesn’t rap about being white.
“I think what has worked for me is that my music has never been about the fact that I am white,” the Kentucky rapper said while noting that he raps from his heart rather than just trying to create a white version of black music.
Jack Harlow first blew up in 2020 for his “WHATS POPPIN” remix that took the No. 2 on the Billboard Hot 100, and he also earned a Grammy nomination for Best Rap Performance that year.
He has been making slow progress but progress nevertheless as his second album, Come Home The Kids Miss You, debuted at No. 3 on the Billboard 200 with 113,000 total album-equivalent units in first week sales.
