Y’all put black men in a tiny little box and it’s so sad. I love Uzi’s energy ? pic.twitter.com/OukgSHHJJm
— B.Wade ❤ (@SincerelyBwade) May 22, 2017
Rapper Lil Uzi Vert has taken a lot of heat lately for his gender-bending style of dress, but he’s not fazed by the judgment and now, R&B star Tank is speaking out in support of him.
Uzi recently went viral for a photo of him clutching a pink handbag and wearing a bleached T-shirt he said cost him $2,400 and he addressed the haters when asked about his feminine style Sunday.
“You know what it is?” he said at the Billboard Music Awards red carpet May 21. “They never felt these fabrics before.”
While Uzi doesn’t seem bothered, Tank was so frustrated by the reactions, which included memes of Uzi appearing on a Mother’s Day card, that he issued a statement on Instagram.
“I’m utterly disgusted!!” Tank wrote Friday, May 19, of Uzi and Lil Yachty, who has embraced the LGBTQIA community with his newest album cover. “I’ve never seen so many grown Black men speak out against young Black kids fighting to earn a living in this already difficult world! Yes, they’re different but so was [Michael Jackson] and Prince! Y’all still celebrate those men highly with no thought to their differences.”
He slammed people for shaming 22-year-old Uzi and 19-year-old Yachty, explaining that tastes and style change each decade.
“These kids make being different OK and give hope to those who may feel like their life has no value,” he wrote. “Everything changes! Everything evolves! It may not be for you but it is for the millions that stream it and show up to be entertained by it! Let these kids live!!”
https://www.instagram.com/p/BURunVYhigC/
Some backed Tank’s argument.
Others slammed the comparison to Michael Jackson and Prince
