Fat Joe took the time to address a controversial line from his collaobration with Benny The Butcher. Joe guested on "Talkin' Back" from the newly-released The Plugs I Met 2, and on the song, he drops a bar that references "the Wuhan virus."
The line drew criticism as Asian-Americans have faced increased bigotry over the past year, in the wake of anti-Asian sentiments fanned by the spread of the coronavirus and racist beliefs that Asians are responsible for the pandemic. Joe took to Twitter to make his stance clear.
“I’ll [address] the Benny verse,” he said. “I did that verse a year ago when the news was calling it the wuhan virus before they called it COVID. i support and love all my asian brothers and sisters never hate.”
In the verse, Joe makes the reference.
“Drag me in and out of court, Harvey Weinstein,” he raps. “Threw that white up in the pot, gave ’em pipe dreams/And watch it spread like the Wuhan virus/Do ’em dirty for the low like Wu-Tang ‘Sirus.”
You can read Fat Joe's tweet below:
I’ll adress the Benny verse i did that verse a year ago when the news was calling it the wuhan virus before they called it COVID i support and love all my asian brothers and sisters never hate
— FAT JOE (@fatjoe) March 21, 2021