At a celebration for the illustrious musician, US President Joe Biden referred to LL Cool J as a "boy," drawing criticism from radio DJ Charlamagne tha God.Read full article
Biden's comments at the Congressional Black Caucus Foundation dinner on Saturday drew criticism from The Breakfast Club host.
Speaking during the ceremony that acknowledged persons who have had a positive impact on society was James Todd Smith, a.k.a. LL Cool J.
However, he mispronounced the rapper's name as he walked the stage, calling him "LL J Cool J." Then, before correcting himself, he referred to the 55-year-old star as a "boy," stirring up further indignation.
By the way, that man's biceps are bigger than my thighs, said 80-year-old Biden.
As a result of the mistake, radio DJ Charlamagne dubbed Biden his "Donkey of the Day."
He declared: "He completely knows the term boy in the racial context of a white man responding to a black man.
When employed in a specific context, the word "boy" is unquestionably discriminatory towards white people. And since I'm from South Carolina, I am aware of it.
"It takes on a whole different point in context when somebody uses the word boy to refer to an adult Black man and the speaker is white."
Boy is a historically laden epithet that has been used to imply superiority during slavery and beyond when used by white people to refer to back men.
LL Cool J is not a fresh or up-and-coming musician, as Charlamagne also noted, thus there was no need to change his name.
As "two of the great artists of our time, representing the groundbreaking legacy of hip-hop in America," Biden presented the rapper and fellow award recipient DJ MC Lyte.
However, Charlamagne, 45, slammed POTUS once more for being 'inauthentic' un his compliments.
'This is a prime illustration of it doesn't matter how many Black people you are around, it doesn't matter how many Black people you have in your administration,' he continued. If it doesn't feel genuine to him, it won't feel genuine to anyone else.
He disparaged the president's age as well, calling him "137 years old."
"Joe Biden shouldn't need a teleprompter to know there aren't two Js in LL Cool J," he remarked. Okay. President Joe Biden was my age when LL Cool J started rapping.