Sophia Michaels
The popular Instagram ‘Verzuz’ battle started by legendary producers Timbaland and Swizz Beats has new artists challenging one another almost weekly. Neo-soul artists Jill Scott and Erykah Badu shattered records and their streaming numbers are now up over 300% – and no one can forget Babyface and Teddy Riley’s re-scheduled battle after their first was interrupted due to technical difficulties. The latest to compare their music are rappers Nelly and Ludacris.
Fans were excited to hear what the southern rappers would play throughout their set. But things took a quick turn after Ludacris debuted a snippet of a new song where he mentions disgraced singer R. Kelly and his “love” of him. Fans were less than pleased with Ludacris and blasted him on social media.
Ludacris introduces new song during ‘Verzus’ battle with Nelly and lyrics reference R. Kelly
Nelly and Ludacris took to Instagram on Sat. May 16 for their highly anticipated ‘Verzus’ battle where they’d play select songs from their catalog and have fans select who had more hits. Throughout the three hour battle, the rappers sent fans down memory lane with some of their biggest hits throughout the early 2000s.
At some point in the battle, Ludacris decided to give fans a treat by previewing his new song. The song features Lil Wayne and was produced by Timbaland.
Throughout the first verse, Ludacris mentions several high profile celebrities who have had controversial moments. R. Kelly, Bill Cosby, Colin Kaepernick, and Roseanne Barr were all named. But it was his lyrics that referenced Kelly that caused the most stir.
In the new track “Silence of the Lambs,” Ludacris raps, “The world crazy, n**gas pouring drinks like Cliff Huxtable/ I love R. Kelly, but around my daughters, I am not comfortable.”
He ran the song back several times as fans’ comments poured in on his live and the overwhelming majority of the 300,000+ fans’ reactions were negative.
Fans pissed and disappointed with Ludacris’s lyrics about R. Kelly
Many were disappointed in Ludacris and felt that he dropped Kelly’s name in his new song for attention and likes. If that were the case, he was definitely a trending topic as a result.
“Sad that “cancel culture” only sticks when its about Black women. R. Kelly should’ve been under the jail in the late 90s and yet Ludacris thinks the Robert Kelly brand has enough cache to be name checked in a song. In 2020. After the documentary,” one wrote.
Others were not surprised and referenced Ludacris’s previous lyrics and imagery used in his music videos and on his past album covers and likened them to misogynistic behavior and pointed it out in their comments.
“Ludacris had an album cover where he was biting a faceless woman’s leg while surrounded by friend chicken and beer bottles. The name of the album was “Chicken and Beer”. Of course these were his views on R. Kelly,” one reminded others. They also used the hashtag, #HipHopHarmsBlackWomen
Some fans questioned the irony of how a man with daughters could admit that he appreciates the art of an alleged sexual predator.
“How do you “love” a known pedophile after all of sick twisted s**t he did,” one asked.
“Ludacris apparently said he loves R. Kelly but wouldn’t trust him around his daughters. Men like Ludacris are the worst. You’re acknowledging R. Kelly is a sexual predator but you still love him,” asked another.
Ludacris appears to be ignoring the chatter as his most recent Instagram post encourages his followers to stay safe and wash their hands to prevent the coronavirus and mentions nothing of the backlash.
Written by: CheatSheet
