Summer Walker is a Grammy-nominated artist whose vocals are heavily applauded in the R&B world.
However, when she’s not singing beautiful melodies, the 26-year-old vocalist says she spends her days trying to get her anxiety under control.
In a recent post on her Instagram story, the “Still Over It” singer explained how her fear of other people’s opinions strongly affects her ability to make interview appearances and speak her mind.
“It took me 27 years to figure out why I’m so shy,” she wrote.
“It’s cause I’m trying real hard not to say something crazy. I’m literally walking around over thinking how to not hurt anyones feelings,” Walker continued, “deep down I’m ghetto af n I be scared ima get cancelled.”
In another post, the “Girls Need Love” artist explained how that plays a part in interviews.
“That’s y I don’t do interviews you most likely not gone like what I have to say :).”
Before her post was deleted, The Shade Room uploaded it onto their Instagram page, where fans did exactly what Walker feared: critique her.
“This is good self-awareness and discipline because some of y’all do not think for one second before speaking.”
“It’s a sad affair when you have to shrink yourself to fit in.”
“Ghetto doesn’t mean you’re hurtful. It means your creative [heart eyes] If you’re quiet bc you’re mean inside, that’s diff.”
Walker’s fear of being canceled is not totally irrational. In 2020, she had to fight off hundreds of critics who roasted her for stating that she wished she had been born in the ’90s, even though she was born in 1996.
The jokes continued to grow, especially after she retracted her statement about this generation being “fake” and replaced the ’90s with the ’60s. Many fans then reminded Walker that segregation was still legal at that time.
But that wasn’t the only time she faced criticism. In 2019, the hitmaker received backlash after canceling a vast number of her remaining tour dates due to her crippling anxiety, which she has openly discussed.
During her explanation via Twitter, Walker stated that finishing the tour did not “co-exist with my social anxiety” and “introverted personality.”
“I really hope that people understand and respect that at the end of the day, I’m a person, I have feelings,” she said. “I get tired. I get sad, and it’s just a lot. I don’t want to lose myself for someone else.”
2019 was also the year Walker was turned into a meme following the reveal of her red-carpet photos at BET’s Soul Train Awards.
Though rapidly becoming a popular image folks use to explain a scenario that might not align with her anxiety, Walker handled the jokes like a champ and even laughed at herself right along with fans.
