Rapper Lil Pump is under hot water for a recent Instagram preview of his unreleased track, Butterfly Doors. The song’s anti-Asian lyrics accompanied by the rapper’s racist slant-eye gestures has led to a backlash from Internet users and the Asian community, including from Rapper China Mac and Crazy Rich Asians actor Awkwafina, reports The HuffingtonPost.
In the video posted on his profile — yet to be removed — Lil Pump raps as he pulls on the side of his eyes, “They call me Yao Ming cause my eyes real low.” When the chorus hits again, Lil Pump ad-libs the words “Ching Chong,” a common derogatory phrase used to humiliatingly refer to Chinese .
Rapper China Mac went to his own Instagram to demand the removal of Lil Pump’s video.“You’re gonna put some respect on my culture and my f*ckin’ people,” China Mac said in his response. “You’re gonna take that f*ckin’ video the f*ck off your page.”
China Mac then followed up with the reaction his post has received.
According to Vibe, Awkwafina, who also holds a career as a rapper, prior to her acting debut, took to Twitter to respond to racist ad-libbing. She wrote in a now-deleted tweet, “Always nice to hear a new song with a Ching Chong adlib. Guess it’s better than “eyes chink” like some other verses I’ve heard. But can we at least think of some more creative racist epithets? @lilpump“
While not referencing the situation directly, Awkwafina posted a tweet sharing a few of her favorite woman rappers who use their platform in more empowering means. She writes, “Given some recent events, I just felt the need to share a couple of my favorite female rappers that use their music and platform to challenge the narrative, innovate the genre and empower themselves and others. @TierraWhack @lizzo @AngelHaze #syd“
Lil Pump has not commented on the situation.
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RE: Lil Pump Uses Racist Slant-Eye Gesture, Anti-Asian Lyrics: I don’t know the ethnic background of this guy. But it nicely illustrates how you think being racist against Asians is ok . We are the last racial group people have no qualms about mocking.