DaBaby

Madonna Presses DaBaby Over His Homophobic Comments: ‘Know Your Facts’

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DaBaby may see himself as the victim of a witch hunt this week after his call to action at Rolling Loud was “taken out of context,” but that hasn’t stopped his peers in the music business from doing their best to educate him on why his comments were wrong.

His “Levitating” collaborator Dua Lipa was “surprised and horrified” while some radio stations have taken to playing the rap-less version of the song, Questlove called him out only to have DaBaby lie in the whole internet’s face about knowing who he is, and even Sir Elton John chimed in to try to provide some clearly much-needed education on HIV/AIDS.

In the spirit of that education, the latest voice to join the chorus belongs to another pop icon, Madonna, who posted her own response to Instagram in an effort to inform the North Carolina rapper why his remark about HIV/AIDS killing people in “two to three weeks” was wildly off the mark.

“A message to DaBaby,” she wrote. “If you’re going to make hateful remarks to the LGBTQ+ community about HIV/AIDS then know your facts.” She provided some of those facts, which you can read below.

After decades of hard won scientific research, there are life saving medicines available to children born with HIV, to people who contract HIV through blood transfusions, dirty needles, or exchange of bodily fluids.

These new [antiretroviral drugs] can keep a person with AIDS alive for the rest of their lives!!! AIDS is not transmitted by standing next to someone in a crowd. I want to put my cellphone lighter up and pray for your ignorance. No one dies of AIDS in 2 or 3 weeks anymore. Thank God.

And your sexist remarks about Ladies whose pussies need to smell like water only encourage more discrimination against women who fight daily against the oppression of living under the constraints of the Male Gaze.

People like you are the reason we are still living in a world divided by fear. All Human beings should be treated with dignity and respect regardless of race, gender, sexual preference or religious beliefs. AMEN.

While the odds DaBaby knows (or cares) who Madonna is are about the same as the ones for him knowing Elton John or Questlove, considering his adverse reaction to Quest’s message, he probably won’t take hers any better.

DaBaby Responds To Questlove’s Criticisms By Saying He Doesn’t Know Who He Is

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Over the past week, public opinion on DaBaby has, to borrow a phrase from one of his collaborators, done “a full 180“: He’s faced accusations of homophobia and the fallout from them following his controversial appearance at Rolling Loud last weekend. Questlove decided to speak out against DaBaby’s actions, which prompted DaBaby to fire back.

Questlove took to Instagram and shared a list of artists he would include in a modern Summer Of Soul festival lineup, and DaBaby’s name was on the list but crossed out. Questlove explained that he removed DaBaby from the roster in light of his recent goings-on and admitted that while he hesitated to speak out against him, the things DaBaby said were “not cool at all.” He wrote:

“I was hypothetically asked if I was curating an updated version of #SummerOfSoul who would be my acts?

I gave my dream list.

And now I’m updating my list —-because it’s 2021 & f*ck the bullshit. I’m especially not here for any savagery (if you’re lost: Google the idiocy of the crossed out). I’m not trine be all performative smurf & create a social flogging or start some click bait headlines. That’s missing the point. But right is right & his actions are wrong. Somebody Gotta say it: Homophobia/Transphobia/Xenophobia/Misogyny/Racism—-this should go w/o saying is morally wrong.

& not that fake hiding behind religion holier than thou morally wrong.

But ‘that was f*cked up’ & wrong. I had to say something. Again I’m not doing this for ‘what do you want a cookie bro w your ‘love ye one another’ posts?—–black people already have a code about publicly criticizing so I’ll admit i was slow to do this because I mean he don’t know me from Adam. So this will prolly get marked as ‘old hater’ territory. But man…..that sh*t was not cool at all.

I dunno man—maybe I’m turning into a grump: barely said anything about Rih in ’06 (lemme mind my business), looked the other way w ol bol & that MaGa Hat (he going thru thangs let him work it out)—-don’t even get me started on half of my rap heroes damn near becoming f*x news talking points w their russian bot reposts & misinformation on all things facts.

Huey Newton wisely stated in the early 70s that we as a people should NEVER go so low in life (with what we been through) that we start oppressing/terrorizing the next man in the way we been terrorized for centuries.

Y’all got my point. Sorry this came off awkward but y’all get the point. Y’all gonna learn that there are other human beings living in the space you are.”

DaBaby caught wind of the post and responded by insisting that he doesn’t know who Questlove is (despite performing with The Roots on The Tonight Show in 2019) and sharing messages for his detractors. He wrote on multiple Instagram Story posts:

“i ain’t even tryna be funny when i say …. i do NOT KNOW WHO DIS N**** IS DAWG [laughing emoji] [shrugging emoji] $ do not care bout loosing you as a fan my boy lol @questlove. You or any other n**** who wanna play follow the leader . This superstar you was a fan of is STAND UP n**** , Yeen never seen one of these huh? [laughing emoji]

These n****s really think they gone influence people to stop f*ckin w/ the INFLUENCE [laughing emoji]. They go crazy bout what I say not yall [laughing emoji]. I got da influence AND the nuts n****. Y’all n****s cheerleaders.

Y’all extra ass n****s tagging along playing on my top like I’m a n**** you can bully of sumn [laughing emojis] going out y’all way creating art work & sh*t tryna gain new fans off my situation cuz it’s QUIET for y’all n****s [crying emoji]. N****s better hit the studio of sumn.”

Check out Questlove and DaBaby’s posts below.

@dababy/Instagram
@dababy/Instagram
@dababy/Instagram

The DaBaby Remix Of Dua Lipa’s ‘Levitating’ Is Starting To Get Phased Out Of Playlists And Radio

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Ever since DaBaby’s fall from grace began this weekend, Dua Lipa fans have tried to forget that he featured on the hit remix of Future Nostalgia highlight “Levitating.” One person even swapped out DaBaby with Megan Thee Stallion to make their own unofficial “fix.” Now, it looks like music curators are responding to the DaBaby situation by opting for the solo album version of “Levitating” instead of the DaBaby remix: Pop Crave reports that the DaBaby version of the song has been removed from multiple Apple Music playlists, as well as Dua Lipa’s Essentials playlist, on which has been replaced by the solo version.

Additionally, US Radio Updater notes that some radio stations are now opting to play the solo version of the song over the DaBaby remix. Some listeners have also noticed that they’re now hearing the solo version on the radio instead of the remix. As US Radio Updater notes, though, the solo version was already being played by adult contemporary programmers, while pop and rhythmic stations tended to play the remix.

Lipa previously said of the DaBaby situation, “I’m surprised and horrified. I know my fans know where my heart lies and that I stand 100 percent with the LGBTQ community. We need to come together to fight the stigma and ignorance around HIV/AIDS.”

Some artists covered here are Warner Music artists. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.

DaBaby Is Still Trying To Defend Himself From Accusations Of Homophobia While Missing The Point Entirely

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DaBaby continues to miss the point of the backlash against his Rolling Loud comments, issuing another statement on Instagram trying to defend himself from accusations of homophobia. Posting a snippet of his new video, “Giving What It’s Supposed To Give” (an example of appropriated LGBTQ slang), he noted the hard work that he put into the video, insisted that he already apologized (he didn’t), and boasted that he would overcome, all while bemoaning the fact that he has had to face consequences for his insensitive remarks such as losing his Boohooman deal. Read it below.

You ever wrote a video, you and 3 others produce it, you direct it while starring AND rapping in it, film the video for 16 HOURS straight wrap up at 4am, take a shower & jump on a jet to @rollingloud and with only 2 hours of rest give one of the BEST performances of the entire festival yet the most controversial and emotion provoking performance as well; due to things deemed “insensitive” said during your performance even though you’re an ENTERTAINER, try to apologize and explain that you meant no harm & that you were only entertaining as you are paid to do, & have no problem with anyone’s sexual preference that is outside of yours, only to have a substantial amount of people refuse to understand your logic, tag along with a trending topic & play with your character and do everything they can to take money out of your pockets and food out your kids mouth, and have everybody around you panicking only for you to apologize anyway stand on the fact that you were entertaining and truly didn’t mean to offend anybody or start no commotion, although they’re currently offending you, & COINCIDENTALLY the video you were shooting till 4am the DAY OF @rollingloud touches on EVERY controversial topic trending in the headlines, so you then go against the grain in the opposite direction of every scared person around you & stay true to yourself & DROP DAT BITCH in the height of the commotion & show the world once again that you CANT BE F*CKED WIT?
I have. I just did. God’s Work.

Okay. So. Let’s address this. There’s a reason that people are still mad and it isn’t because it’s a “trending topic.” Regardless of his intent, the impact of his words is very real. Right now, there are queer people facing levels of violence and persecution that literally put their lives in danger, and cracks like “if you ain’t suck a n**** dick in the parking lot…” only serve to reinforce the way of thinking that justifies it in the minds of bigots. Secondly, DaBaby didn’t really apologize. “I’m sorry you feel that way” isn’t an apology because it isn’t acknowledging the harm — intentional or not — and resolving to do better.

Doubling down by releasing this video only serves to mock the people who want to see him take responsibility and downplay how egregious his words were. When Elton John tweets you to tell you how your comments cause real-world harm and you still laugh it off, you’re not being an entertainer, you’re acting like an asshole. Admitting you were wrong doesn’t mean you’re admitting you are a bad person. But you still have to admit when you mess up and try not to do it again.

Finally, trying to draw attention to the other controversy within the set is probably not the move here. Because, again, that was an asshole move. Get your money or whatever, but if you have to step on people’s toes to do so, maybe that check isn’t worth it.

Anyway, here’s hoping that someone close to DaBaby can explain these things to him and that they’ll catch him at a time when he’s feeling more receptive, less combative, and ready to grow up instead of living down to his name.

Dua Lipa Fans Absolutely Drag DaBaby After He Liked Multiple Tweets Criticizing Her

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DaBaby is in the midst of quite the fall from grace following his set at Rolling Loud last weekend, which featured a homophobic rant about HIV and AIDS. Dua Lipa, who recruited DaBaby to join her on the hit “Levitating” remix, noted that she was “surprised and horrified” by the moment. Now fans have noticed that yesterday, DaBaby liked some tweets criticizing Lipa, which has led to backlash.

The tweets in question focus on “Levitating,” specifically how it was DaBaby that got the song to No. 1 on the charts (even though it actually peaked at No. 2 on the Hot 100) and wondering why the DaBaby version of the track hasn’t been taken off of streaming services yet.

Twitter

As far as the idea that DaBaby launched Lipa to mainstream relevance, that claim is dubious at best, considering that “New Rules” and “Don’t Start Now” were top-10 singles well before the release of the “Levitating” remix. Whatever the case may be, Lipa fans took to Twitter and went after DaBaby, saying they had never heard of him before “Levitating” and that by some metrics, Lipa has had more commercial success than DaBaby.

Check out some more reactions below.

Dua Lipa is a Warner Music artist. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.