B.o.B was once a promising voice on the hip-hop scene. However, his career slowed down after he released a track rife with anti-Semitism. The rapper, real name Bobby Simmons Jr., came out as a Flat Earther in 2016 and even went as far to make a diss track against popular physicist, Neil DeGrasse Tyson. As it turns out, the track, titled “Flatline,” proved controversial for a few reasons. At the time, the CEO of The Anti-Defamation League, Jonathan Greenblatt, released a statement criticizing the rapper’s lyrics.
However, the rapper, years later, is setting the record straight. The rapper was set to perform at the Welcome Week Event at University of Central Florida, August 25. However, local Jewish community leaders objected to this, citing his anti-Semitic lyrics from 2016. According to an interview with TMZ, Simmons claims the situation is settled, and the performance is back on.
B.o.B Changes His Tune
During the interview, he hinted that something was going on in his personal life during his flat earth phase. He also gave his two cents regarding the current social climate. “This the era of cancel culture and people finding old things you said. You say one wrong thing, and you’re done for.”
I just feel like I don’t really have any ill intentions in my heart. I’m an honorable person, I treat people respectfully, I’m not prejudice[d]. So I just feel like you can’t really stop somebody, you can’t cancel somebody like that.
The rapper says he plans to address everything in his next song, “TED Talk.” Simmons says he wants to clear the air with this track, and hopes it’ll “douse the flames.”
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