After Akon shared a hot take that pit different members of the Black community against each other, various people—including former TMZ co-host Van Lathan—are going in on him!
Akon Says Africans & Black Americans Are Built Different
It all started during a recent appearance on The Zeze Millz Show as Akon and the host were discussing a Ghanian artist called Black Sherif.
After Zeze praised Black Sherif’s stage presence, Akon opened up a can of worms by comparing African talent to Black American performers.
“Well, he’s African. we’re a lil different when it comes to stage presence. Now in America, them n***as gonna be wobblin’, pants hangin’ half down, bored as hell half asleep ’cause they high as hell onstage.”
He then brought up viral videos of African children showing out with their moves, alleging, “For us, it comes natural.”
Akon explains why Africans are more talented and better performers than Black Americans pic.twitter.com/YlXah9KxF2
— CultureMillennials (@CultMillennials) December 25, 2022
The Online Discourse Begins
Understandably, Akon’s commentary sparked a ton of backlash. Check out what some Twitter users had to say about the “Right Now (Na Na Na)” artist down below.
Akon cosplayed as a black American for the majority of his career so him saying this is wild. Let the Black Americans cook him (without xenophobia pls) https://t.co/XZruUgTGvx
— Lateef (@LateefSaka) December 26, 2022
As a Ghanaian-American, I hate this with every fiber of my body for so many reasons, but what really gets me about this entire "conversation" is Akon using AAVE while degrading African-Americans.
It is both a slap in the face and peak anti-Blackness. https://t.co/56sPlAWN7Z
— Anna (@itsafronomics) December 26, 2022
Akon came to America
And acted like a black American
Doing black American music
Talking in black American slang
Wearing black American clothes
Gettin big features from
black Americans artist
But once he got rich
It’s been fuck black America
in every single interview lol https://t.co/yGeP3ZSPrQ— MASTER STUDENT🤲🏾 (@MUSICANDBUILDS) December 26, 2022
Imagine having a critique on African Americans being worst than Africans but having 6 kids in America that you refuse to participate in their lives because it’s white people shit while actually being born in Missouri as an African-American. The jokes write themselves @Akon. https://t.co/qAFxutiitV
— 𝐇𝐞𝐧𝐫𝐲 𝐏𝐡𝐢𝐥𝐲𝐚𝐰 (@justxhenry) December 26, 2022
Aside from going in on Akon, people were also clowning the validity of his statements.
This is the “stage presence” @Akon was talking about.🤨 pic.twitter.com/cbX9fO5ro9
— MY NAME IS MY NAME 🇺🇸 (@ctreid89) December 27, 2022
Idk why y'all entertaining Akon when Motown's catalog alone is more talented than the entire continent 🤷🏿♂️
— Marcus 🇺🇲 (@Jigsawbanks) December 26, 2022
Is this more of that “natural stage presence” that Akon was trying to tell FBAs about? pic.twitter.com/jcopddK9pI
— Tariq Nasheed 🇺🇸 (@tariqnasheed) December 27, 2022
Van Lathan Speaks His Mind & Calls Akon Out
As the backlash continued, Van Lathan came through with a response of his own.
Beneath a repost of the video in question, Van went in on Akon by saying that he’s “been on his clown s**t for years.” Van then went into breaking down how proud he is of his Black American heritage, which he is “sick of seeing people s**t on.”
“I’m Black. Like Black American Black. Like South Louisiana bayou bondage Black. Like my father was raised by Bishop and Lizzie Lathan Black. The kind of Black where you grow up around old people with scarred souls who tell you about everyone who died and everyone who lived so you could sit down and drink a soda on a Saturday. The type of Black where you understand the beauty and the danger of your skin from the beginning, because the old people want you know what they been through. Real talk, I’m sick of seeing people s**t on that.”
He also went into how Akon’s commentary sparks a very real fear about how, despite people “like Akon” who “cosplay” as Black Americans, there may not be true unity between the communities.
“When you single out Black Americans for criticism, the ones who have culturally empowered the entire diaspora, you’re s****ing an entire experience I feel connected to by birthright. This seems to be happening more now, why? Why do people who’ve like Akon, who’ve made millions of dollars cosplaying like brothers from Atlanta or Miami feel the need to tear into us specifically? There’s this fear that I have, that fear is that there is no diaspora. That fear is that Black Americans are to other Black people worldwide what we’ve always been here, workhorses used to plow through and build something for someone else, who then eats off it, before turning around and shooting the horse in the head.”
He then proceeded to wrap up his statements by going for Akon’s notorious hairline, which he achieved through a hair transplant surgery in Turkey, as The Shade Room previously reported.
“That might be irrational, but I’m insecure. I’m as insecure as Akon must be to have strapped a PS5 to his head and called it hair.”
Beneath his post, Van received support from other stars like Loni Love and Neil Brown Jr. Civil rights activists like Gary Chambers Jr., Shaun King, and Leslie E. Redmond also chimed in.
As for Akon, it doesn’t appear as though he’s publicly acknowledged the backlash.
What do you think about Akon’s comments, as well as Van Lathan’s response?
