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MusicRAP: Mackelmore, August Alsina Jay Electronica

This week there was a few articles that stood out above the rest like Macklemore poor excuse for making fun of Jews, August Alsina scaring fans with lynch photo and why Jay Electronica Twitter was deleted.

Let’s be real Macklemore gave the weakest excuse an artist could ever use when making fun of another nationality.

To recap, earlier this week Macklemore came under fire when he was spotted performing “Thrift Shop” dressed like a Jewish man. He claims that it was a witch nose and a wig, but he knew what he was doing and is now trying to clean it up with some bogus PR apology.

Here is what Macklemore said after the media called him out for his tastless stunt. Macklemore is doing all he can to distance himself from the offensive get-up he wore during a secret show last weekend. Realizing that the 140-character-limit of Twitter was not enough to deal with the uproar his costume caused, the “Thrift Store” rapper took to his Tumblr to try to explain his actions on Monday.

He writes:

Family, friends and fans alike who know me well, know that I’m absolutely not the person described in certain headlines today. There is no worse feeling than being misunderstood, especially when people are hurt or offended.

On Friday night we had a surprise show at the EMP Museum in Seattle. Earlier in the day I thought it would be fun to dress up in a disguise and go incognito to the event, so that I could walk around unnoticed and surprise the crowd with a short performance. I picked up a bunch of fake mustaches and beards and grabbed a left over wig from our recent trip to Japan.

As it turns out the fake noses they sell at the costume store are usually big (my nose didn’t fit most of them). So I ended up with a big witch nose. I went with a black beard, because that’s the furthest color from my natural hair. Disguise was the intention. I personally thought I looked very ambiguous in terms of any “type” of person. Some people there thought I looked like Ringo, some Abe Lincoln. If anything I thought I looked like Humpty Hump with a bowl cut.

We showed up to the event, I hit the stage in the outfit, rocked two songs, took pictures and went home. We had a great time and it was fun to be a surprise guest in a costume. I’ve always loved dressing up and have been doing so my entire career. The character I dressed up as on Friday had no intended cultural identity or background. I wasn’t attempting to mimic any culture, nor resemble one. A “Jewish stereotype” never crossed my mind.

My intention was to dress up and surprise the people at the show with a random costume and nothing more. Thus, it was surprising and disappointing that the images of a disguise were sensationalized leading to the immediate assertion that my costume was anti-Semitic. I acknowledge how the costume could, within a context of stereotyping, be ascribed to a Jewish caricature. I am here to say that it was absolutely not my intention, and unfortunately at the time I did not foresee the costume to be viewed in such regard. I’m saddened that this story, or any of my choices, would lead to any form of negativity.

I will let my body of work and the causes for which I’ve supported speak for themselves. I hope that anyone who may question my intent take a few moments to discover the human and artist that I strive to be. I respect all cultures and all people. I would never intentionally put down anybody for the fabric that makes them who they are. I love human beings, love originality, and… happen to love a weird outfit from time to time.

I truly apologize to anybody that I may have offended. I hope this better explains the situation and my point of view.

With love,

Ben

PS – Out of a negative can come a positive. Through this situation I’ve got hip to some incredible groups like the ADL and I encourage people to check the great work they, and others like them, do: http://www.adl.org

Then, we heard about the crazy photo August Alsina posted on his instagram on May 12, which is rumored to be from his upcoming music video “FML.”

August Alsina got his fans, and maybe even some family members, up in arms over a photo of him hanging from a ceiling with a noose around his neck. Alsina threw the image up on Instagram (May 21), which appears to be a shot from his new music video for “FML,” a track where he touches on suicidal thoughts.

The 21-year-old captioned the disturbing photo, “Rest in peace Aug. Forever missed #holdyoudownforlife.” The picture racked up more than 9,000 comments.

Some of his Instagram followers assumed the flick was from the video set, while others thought the picture was distasteful in general. One user by the name of mac_alsina pleaded with the crooner to “answer the phone,” claiming that his grandmother was in tears from seeing the photo. Another person — a producer from TMZ — asked Alsina to reach out and explain the image.

Although the New Orleans native is a relatively new name to R&B, he’s used to being in the midst of a little controversy now and again. He recently called Trey Songz out after a collaborative show between the two fell through. Songz wasn’t fazed; he stated in an interview that Alsina had “a lot going on in his life outside of music” and refused to speak negatively about him.

No matter how outspoken he has been in the past, it doesn’t look like Alsina will be providing any further clarification on the noose photo. Thousands of questions, comments and concerns haven’t been enough to get him to respond just yet.

CelebNMusic247.com has also learned via HHDX that Jay Electronica’s twitter account has been deleted.

Last month, the rapper sent out a series of tweets, including several regarding his opinions about Hip Hop. During the series of posts, which he says were “brought to you by coconut ciroc and the crap tables at mgm,” the Roc Nation emcee also answered fan questions, including one requesting a ranking, #1-3, of the best verse on Big Sean’s “Control,” a selection that features Jay Electronica and Kendrick Lamar.

“me, big sean then kendrick. he really didn’t say anything,” Jay Electronica said in an April 18 Twitter post. “no shots. everyone knows i like kendrick. but facts are facts.”