closeicon
News

Hip hop megastars back social media return for hate-rant rapper Wiley

Drake and Busta Rhymes approved of a tweet by UK hip hop artist Giggs saying that Wiley should be given ‘a chance’

articlemain

British rapper Wiley poses on the red carpet arriving for the BRIT Awards 2017 in London on February 22, 2017. / AFP / NIKLAS HALLE'N / RESTRICTED TO EDITORIAL USE, TO ILLUSTRATE THE EVENT AS SPECIFIED IN THE CAPTION, NO POSTERS, NO USE IN PUBLICATIONS DEVOTED TO ARTISTS (Photo credit should read NIKLAS HALLE'N/AFP via Getty Images)

Rap megastars have backed the idea that grime artist Wiley should be let back onto social media, a year after he was banned over several antisemitic rants.

Top US rappers Drake and Busta Rhymes approved of a tweet by UK hip hop artist Giggs saying that Wiley should be given “a chance”, provided he offered a “sincere apology”, because he had three children to feed.

Drake has rapped about being Jewish and has posted Instagram photos of himself celebrating Passover and Hanukkah before.

Busta Rhymes, who has been nominated 12 times for Grammy awards, posted a line of crown emojis expressing his support for Wiley.

American Radio personality and interviewer Ebro Darden, who is Jewish, also posted his support for Wiley under the Giggs post.

Ebro has over 700,000 followers on Instagram and is currently a co-host on the US Hot 97 morning radio show.

Others who felt it was time to give Wiley another chance included French-British rapper Octavian  and former Big Brother star Aisleyne Horgan-Wallace.

Wiley provoked outrage last year when he embarked on a tirade online that continued for days. He accused Jewish people of being “racists” and “cowards” and asked if it was antisemitic “to say Jewish people have power”.

His posts prompted a 48-hour “walk out” by Twitter users in protest over its failure to act quickly in banning the rapper.   The posts led to an eventual ban for Wiley from Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and Instagram. He was also dumped by his record label and manager.

Giggs has written: “I think it’s time Wiley got back his platforms now, he was a bloody idiot and said some stupid sh.t but now I think just give him a chance to make a sincere apology and let his lesson be learnt.  The man got 3 kids to feed.  He got shown what time it is, let’s move on now."

Share via

Want more from the JC?

To continue reading, we just need a few details...

Want more from
the JC?

To continue reading, we just
need a few details...

Get the best news and views from across the Jewish world Get subscriber-only offers from our partners Subscribe to get access to our e-paper and archive