Dr. Umar Johnson
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Dr. Umar Johnson is known for his strong opinions and ability to both enlighten and infuriate those who choose to debate with him. In a recent appearance on a popular podcast, Dr. Umar Johnson shared his thoughts on Hip-Hop and how he feels the music and culture have not helped the wider Black community.
Dr. Umar Johnson was a guest on the Hustle Over Everything with host Alex Whitfield, and the pair got into a spirited conversation regarding Hip-Hop that has since gone viral. In the chat, Johnson asserts that Hip-Hop music has “betrayed Black America” after fellow guest Mouse Jones locked horns with the famed Pan-African psychologist and educator.
Jones asked Johnson if he felt that Hip-Hop as a culture or the industry where it thrives was what sparked his harsh critiques. Johnson stated that the culture and industry are both responsible for what he framed as a betrayal.
“You’re still selling death and destruction to my kids while your kids are going to $30,000 a year privileged white schools; that’s what you call a traitor,” Johnson said. “The hip-hop community has betrayed Black America.”
Despite Hip-Hop’s half-century existence, Johnson doesn’t see that the music or culture has added true value to Black culture overall.
“You’ve been around for 50 years, the most popular music genre in the world, billions and billions of dollars, and all you can tell me about is a few people can get jobs,” Johnson shared. “That’s bullsh*t when you look at the cost that the black community has had to pay for Hip-Hop. A whole two or three generations of black kids growing up thinking the best thing you can do is be a gangster.”
With the clip of Dr. Umar Johnson and Mouse Jones debating the finer points of Hip-Hop going viral, fans on X, formerly Twitter, offered their thoughts on the debate and even posted some examples to counter Johnson’s arguments. We’ve got those reactions below, along with the episode of Hustle Over Everything mentioned above.
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Photo: Hustle Over Everything/YouTube
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Source: Counsel Culture / Youtube
Recently, the self-proclaimed Prince of Pan-Africa, Dr. Umar Johnson, made an appearance on Nick Cannon‘s Counsel Culture so he could lecture Black America while continuing to spread his archaic and myopic views on masculinity, particularly, as it pertains to Black men.
During the episode, Johnson and Cannon discussed an aspect of Black entertainment that has long been discussed by Black people but has gotten renewed attention ever since Katt Williams brought it up during his internet-breaking interview with Shannon Sharpe on Club Shay Shay—Black men wearing dresses in Hollywood.
“If we will admit that entertainment is a weapon of indoctrination in an age where we see a war against not only the life of Black men but the survival of Black masculinity, how can a Black man putting on a dress not be a problem?” Umar began.
Umar didn’t bother offering any evidence that entertainment is intentionally used as “a weapon of indoctrination” or that there’s a war on “Black masculinity,” which is a common claim made by members of the Hotep-verse whenever they see images of effeminate Black men or anything they even perceive as such.
“I want us to make sure we draw a distinction between feminine energy and female sexuality,” Johnson continued. “For [Black] children, who consume more television per capita than any other ethnic group in America, so the messages you put in those movies are going to hit our children 50-times harder because they’re more dependent on television than anyone else and they’re less likely to have a father at home.”
While it is true that Black people, on average, consume more TV per capita than any other racial group (not by anything close to 50 times more, but whatever), Johnson, like many others, has just kind of decided that Black comedians and actors wearing dresses will affect a Black boy’s masculinity and that “feminine energy” is a detriment to Black boys and by extension, the Black community.
Even if this were true—and there are no non-hotep certified sociological studies that show it is—Umar’s logic completely ignores the fact that Black men in film and TV are shown not wearing clothing meant for women far more often than they’re shown in dresses. He appears to be ignoring other programming such as the world of sports, where football and basketball, especially, still serve as a popular mainstream source where Black masculinity can be witnessed in all its abundance.
Listen: Black people are going to feel however they’re going to feel about Black actors in dresses and feminine Black males in general, but what it all comes down to is a fear of the normalization of gender and/or sexual fluidity. Umar and his ilk suggest that these concepts will cause young Black boys to struggle with their identities, others will argue that the same concepts will aid in the development of Black children and all children who already live that struggle.
Anyway, you can watch the full interview between Johnson and Cannon below.
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Source: Vivien Killilea / Getty
Ed Lover has issued his take on the debate sparked by Dr. Umar Johnson questioning Eminem’s place in Hip-Hop, asking about the speaker’s own credentials.
Veteran Hip-Hop media personality Ed Lover has not only challenged Dr. Umar Johnson’s recent comments on Eminem only being relevant in Hip-Hop due to “white supremacy” during his appearance on Joe Budden’s podcast, but he also called the motivational speaker’s background into question. He did so on his C’mon Son podcast on Sunday (December 31), the last episode for 2023 by saying, “Dr. Umar, please. Please. What I want to know is, where did you get your doctorate?”
“What makes you a doctor? And then, where did you come from and what makes you a[n] authority on Hip Hop, Ed Lover said before adding, “Now Eminem don’t need Dr. Umar to tell him he’s one of the greatest of all time because we’ve already have said it. Hip Hop is for everybody. Hip Hop might’ve been created by Black people, but the love of music, melodies, and rhymes have spread all over this world.”
The former YO!MTV Raps host continued with his point. “That’s like saying [Big] Pun can’t be one of the greatest of all time because he’s not African American, ’cause he’s Puerto Rican; Fat Joe don’t deserve to be in Hip Hop because he’s not African American. You weren’t there, Dr. Umar, respectively. You were not there.” Ed Lover closed by referring to his resume. “I wasn’t even there in the very very beginning of Hip-Hop. I got on in ’89, I was able to show these videos and help spread the gospel of Hip-Hop across the globe, I am highly respected, way more than you, Dr. Umar.”
Dr. Umar’s comments have caused a stir with other notable figures in the culture, with MC Shan himself calling the often-controversial speaker out in a 13-minute video that was posted to YouTube. “You just make everything a race thing, n—a,” he began. “Everything ain’t no fuckin’ race thing. Eminem — muthafucka, you know that n—a nice. Em deserves a m———n’ slot in this game,” he stated.
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Source: Variety / Getty / Vanessa Bryant
Joe Budden’s interview with the Pan African Avenger Dr. Umar Johnson continues to be the gift that keeps giving. Johnson is now under fire for saying something very ridiculous about Vanessa Bryant.
Dr. Umar had the internet talking about his unnecessary sitdown with The Joe Budden Podcast for saying Eminem is not a Hip-Hop GOAT and for putting pressure on Budden’s co-host Ish for his relationship with a white woman.
When it comes to Johnson, you can always count on him to say some completely outrageous nonsense if he’s given enough time to talk, and that was the case when Vanessa Bryant’s name came up.
The wife of the late Kobe Bryant has seen nothing but support following the tragic deaths of her husband and daughter, Gigi, but that didn’t stop the hater swirling to come for her with some completely unfounded accusations.
In the clip that has gone viral on X, formerly Twitter, Johnson accused Vanessa Bryant, who is of Mexican descent, of not using her husband’s money to help the Black community.
Johnson claims she “inherited [Kobe Bryant’s] wealth, and guess what? Is Vanessa Bryant using any of that Black man’s money to do any good in the Black community? Absolutely f****** not.”
When challenged on his claim, he responded, “She’s a public figure… I do know, and I’m telling you now. Vanessa Bryant just started an initiative with three predominantly white colleges, some sort of a sports initiative with Kobe’s money and Kobe’s name.”
He continued, “Didn’t choose a single HBCU [historically Black colleges and universities] with a Black man’s money.”
Is Dr. Umar Correct?
Of course, he isn’t. Vanessa Bryant and her late husband founded the Kobe and Vanessa Bryant Foundation in 2007, and one of its missions is to provide scholarships to minority college students and other youth globally.
It has since been changed to the Mamba & Mambacita Sports Foundation to honor Bryant and his daughter.
The JBP pushed back again on Johnson’s claims, adding there are notable Black celebrities who don’t give back to the Black community, and as expected, the man full of hot air had a response for that.
“There’s a difference, and you know what the difference is? If I marry a white woman, when I die, my wealth goes to the very people who robbed everything from my community.”
Yeah, sure.
Vanessa Bryant hasn’t responded to Johnson’s wild claims, but she doesn’t have to; social media is doing the job for her.
“Vanessa Bryant woke up one morning and never saw her husband and daughter again, and she is still (seemingly) functioning. If that woman puts all of Kobe’s money in a fuckin tissue box and wipes her tears with it every day, she deserves to do that,” one X user wrote.
Others point out how Johnson has failed to deliver to the school he’s been asking for donations for since 2014.
Welp.
You can see more reactions in the gallery below.
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Photo: Variety / Getty
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Over the holiday weekend, Joe Budden gave Hip-Hoppers a different kind of Christmas present when he shared a few clips of Dr. Umar Johnson off the next episode of his podcast. WAnd while there were a few entertaining and intriguing topics that were broached, the internet exploded over his take on Eminem being the rap G.O.A.T.
Sitting down with Joe Budden and crew for a Patreon exclusive episode, Dr. Umar was asked about his thoughts about Eminem being considered one of the G.O.A.T.’s in the Hip-Hop game, which prompted quite the spirited response from the man who bluntly stated “No non-African can ever be the best of anything African.”
Continuing to drive his point home, the good doctor expounded on his opinion saying, “It is an insult to the ancestors. It is an insult to the race. It is an insult to every Black person. Do you think I can go to Palestine and be the best anything of Palestinian culture? You never see that! You think I can go to Israel and be the best of anything in Israel whether it be a cook, an instrumentalist, a dancer? Hell no!”
Well, he’s not wrong. Also, Lord Jamar is probably somewhere clapping right now.
Dr. Umar doesn’t like people crowning Eminem the best of anything in Hip-Hop culture. While Umar acknowledges Marshall Mather’s talent as an artist, he added, “For you to put him at the top, that’s white supremacy, brother!”
Naturally, people on social media either agreed or disagreed with Dr. Umar’s take on Eminem’s legacy in the rap game, but regardless of how you may feel, Dr. Umar isn’t going to have his mind changed on the matter so long as Eminem is a Caucasian and that’s the kind of a forever thing.
Check out Dr. Umar Johnson break it down for the people in the back below and let us know your thoughts on the take in the comments section below.
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Photo: Instagram/Getty
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Dr. Umar Johnson has his fair share of critics and detractors and it appears recent comments he made during a podcast interview will add to those ranks. During the discussion, Dr. Umar Johnson expressed disappointment in the perception some men hold regarding the role of women in society despite getting pushback on his stances from the show’s hosts.
Dr. Umar Johnson was a guest on the Daily Rap Up Crew show and a series of clips from Dr. Johnson’s appearance have since gone viral. In one especially heated exchange, Johnson explains
“At the end of the day, if I’m a call myself a man, the ultimate responsibility for the reconstruction of the Black community rests with me,” Johnson said to the trio of hosts for the Daily Rap Up Crew. “Yes, they [Black Women] have a role. Yes, they have responsibility. But as a man, as a leader, to say ‘I can’t fix this sh*t unless she changes’ — that’s not the definition of a man.”
Johnson received pushback at this point when one of the hosts retorted by saying that the current pool of women to choose for a mate is, in the host’s words, “masculine” and does not want to raise the children of another man. The host added that too much of the onus has been put on Black men to conform to women, but Johnson fired back.
“Why is she masculine? Because she had to raise the kids alone,” Johnson fired back before getting cut off and returning the energy. I’m telling you, mistakes made by Black men systemically gave rise to the conditions that allowed her to be masculine and made her end up with a man that you consider to be less than he should be. And I’m telling you, Black men are responsible for her being masculine because we have not helped her raise them children.”
To view the portion of the discussion we reference above, hop to the 10:00-minute mark in the video below.
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Photo: Daily Rap Up Crew / YouTube screenshot
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