As the vote count continues in a spate of states to determine the winner of the 2020 presidential elections, O'Shea Jackson, better known for his stage name Ice Cube, has been facing a relentless wave of backlash from the black community for working with Donald Trump.
This week the rapper went on Twitter to address the online mud-slinging campaign against him over collaboration with the Trump administration on the Platinum Plan, which outlines the POTUS’ promise to help Black Americans.
The singer has never publicly endorsed Trump, However, the artist, who was N.W.A's lead rapper and main ghostwriter on their album Straight Outta Compton in 1988, that contributed to gangsta rap's widespread popularity, found himself on the receiving end of fierce criticism by association after senior advisor to the Trump campaign Katrina Pierson thanked him on Twitter.
On 14 October Pierson had posted a “shoutout” to the filmmaker/actor, with a raised fist emoji, following up the tweet with a GIF of the rapper smiling, and adding the caption “today was a good day,” in a nod to his legendary hit song.
However, the tweet set off a steady stream of backlash as many on social media call out the rapper for working with the Republican Party.
Best-selling author Roxane Gay went on Twitter to question if money was involved in the deal.
On Thursday, the entertainer tweeted that he wanted to set matters straight, explaining he had gotten Trump to pledge over half a trillion dollars towards the needs of the Black Community.
Many netizens, however, were not impressed, as they argued that it might have been a “political stunt” on the part of the current Trump administration.
Some of the rapper’s followers were quick to support him, while denouncing those who “didn’t get “ the motives that had forced Ice Cube to work with Donald Trump.
Earlier, Ice Cube had shared a video on Twitter, captioned “Don’t shoot the messenger,” where he revealed that he had engaged with Democratic and Republican leaders to talk of potential plans for supporting Black communities.
In summer, amid wide-scale US protests against racism spearheaded by Black Lives Matter (BLM) and triggered by the death of African-American man Floyd George in police detention, Ice Cube had tweeted his opinion of the Democratic Party and their presidential nominee Joe Biden’s plans for the Black community.
He had gone on Twitter to opinion that they were yet to offer a “major plan” to economically lift Black Americans that might “secure” the vote for them.