Uncle Luke is quite the outspoken hip-hop voice, and he recently took to social media to rant about the villainization of the Black community. Specifically, he seemed to argue that there are alleged systems in place that look to make successful Black people out to be villains in the culture, and even named Jay-Z, Kanye West, and Diddy as specific examples of Black superstars that formed part of these very same systems and contributed to the villainization of their community.
“LeBron James is a villain,” Uncle Luke began. “Why? Because he has all-Black representation. […] You guys don’t know, that’s how America works. I, Luther Campbell, I am a villain. I’m a bad guy. That’s why when you look at my profile, ‘bad boy of hip-hop.’ I will never get into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Puff Daddy was not a villain, he was one of them. Kanye West was one of them. Jay-Z was one of them. Biggie Smalls, a villain. Tupac, a villain. We all are villains. And until you people realize that as Black people in America, you are the villain. It’s black and white. You are the opposite of white. We will always be in competition with them. Y’all don’t hear me.”
Uncle Luke’s Rant About “Villains”
Of course, this is far from the first time that Uncle Luke has expressed his thoughts on these issues and similar ones. In fact, he recently spoke on the Diddy situation and claimed that he was “consumed” by drugs. So to hear this sort of assessment now is not very surprising, although many in the comments section of the Instagram post covering this above found plenty of room for debate and pushback concerning these remarks.
Meanwhile, Uncle Luke doesn’t just call out rappers for more serious fare, but also when he feels like he deserves some of their flowers, too. He took to social media earlier this year to ask female rappers for recognition and compensation for innovating the more lewd and party-centric style that they eventually came to prominence through. We can only wonder as to what hot take will emerge from the Miami rap icon.
About The Author
Gabriel Bras Nevares is a staff writer for HotNewHipHop. He joined HNHH while completing his B.A. in Journalism & Mass Communication at The George Washington University in the summer of 2022.
Born and raised in San Juan, Puerto Rico, Gabriel treasures the crossover between his native reggaetón and hip-hop news coverage, such as his review for Bad Bunny’s hometown concert in 2024. But more specifically, he digs for the deeper side of hip-hop conversations, whether that’s the “death” of the genre in 2023, the lyrical and parasocial intricacies of the Kendrick Lamar and Drake battle, or the many moving parts of the Young Thug and YSL RICO case.
Beyond engaging and breaking news coverage, Gabriel makes the most out of his concert obsessions, reviewing and recapping festivals like Rolling Loud Miami and Camp Flog Gnaw. He’s also developed a strong editorial voice through album reviews, think-pieces, and interviews with some of the genre’s brightest upstarts and most enduring obscured gems like Homeboy Sandman, Bktherula, Bas, and Devin Malik.
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