While tribalism, nationalism, and xenophobia have all been on the rise across the globe for the last several years, hip-hop has seen its own corresponding rise in xenophobic sentiments in recent weeks, with multiple prominent figures of the culture getting censured by the public after sharing anti-Semitic views. The latest to join this growing list of rap icons is British grime MC Wiley, who spent over ten hours railing against the Jewish community on Twitter, sharing videos, memes, and photos which propagated long-disproven stereotypes and misconceptions.
What started with Wiley trying to make a point about record deals and ended up far afield from where it began. Initially, it seemed he was offering useful advice to up-and-coming artists. “A record deal is not to benefit you,” he wrote. “It’s to make the person who gave you the advance rich as hell while you take 17 or 18 % of net profit after costs.” Fair enough.
A record deal is not to benefit you it’s to make the person who gave you the advance rich as hell while you take 17 or 18 % of net profit after costs
— Wiley (@WileyCEO) July 24, 2020
But then, his next tweet indicated the position he’d be taking, several miles away from the rails. “If you work for a company owned by 2 Jewish men and you challenge the Jewish community in anyway of course you will get fired,” he tweeted. He may have been referencing Nick Cannon’s recent excommunication from Viacom after an anti-Semitic discussion on his podcast. But soon enough, he was off on a long-winded rant, similar to the one conducted by Ice Cube a few weeks ago, in which he shared the views that had been shaped by both negative experiences and anti-Semitic propaganda throughout the years.
Infact there are 2 sets of people who nobody has really wanted to challenge #Jewish & #KKK but being in business for 20 years you start to undestand why
— Wiley (@WileyCEO) July 24, 2020
Among some of the other tweets, he accused Jewish people of controlling the world, denounced Israel, and repeated the assertion that Jewish people had taken advantage of Black artists in the music business. While some of his followers tried to talk sense into him others, unfortunately, sent words of affirmation. As of press time, he’s still going. We won’t repost his conspiracy theories here, because they don’t warrant repeating, but the number of rappers who have embraced these conspiracies is concerning — especially after months of civil disobedience aimed at bringing about true justice and peace.