The Weeknd (VMAN)
Singer The Weeknd promised himself he would not let racism affect him, but he found it ‘hard to ignore.’ The artist opened up about the how the deadly police shootings of Philando Castile and Alton Sterling forced him to discuss America’s racial issues.
“I promised myself that I would never tweet or talk about politics and focus on the music, but I was just so bewildered that we lost more of our people to these senseless police shootings,” he said in the latest issue of VMAN magazine. “It’s hard to wrap my head around the fact that there are people who can’t or won’t see what Black Lives Matter is trying to accomplish.”
The Weeknd (VMAN)
But The Weeknd did send a political message two months ago. He tweeted in reaction to Castile and Sterling’s deaths in July. Police shot and killed the men within 24 hours of each other in Minnesota and Louisiana, respectively.
“Enough is enough. It’s time to stand up for this,” the singer wrote. “We can either sit and watch or do something about it. The time is now.”
enough is enough. it's time to stand up for this. we can either sit and watch, or do something about it. the time is now. #blacklivesmatter
— The Weeknd (@theweeknd) July 7, 2016
He followed up the tweet with another message that firmly established his stance.
— The Weeknd (@theweeknd) July 7, 2016
“It’s hard to wrap my head around the fact that there are people who can’t or won’t see what Black Lives Matter is trying to accomplish,” he continued to the magazine. “I wish I could make music about politics. I feel like it’s such an art and a talent that I admire tremendously, but when I step into the studio I step out of the real world, and it’s therapeutic. It’s an escape, but recently it’s been very hard to ignore, and it’s also been very distracting. Maybe you’ll hear it in my voice, but it is not my forté.”
Atlanta Black Star reported The Weeknd showed his support for BLM last month with a $250,000 donation. It was one of the grandest donations any artist ever awarded the organization.
