Stephen A. Smith jumped on his podcast this week to back the rappers who’ve been catching heat for performing at Donald Trump’s Inauguration.
Nelly, Rick Ross, Snoop Dogg, and Soulja Boy all rocked the stage at the Crypto Ball before the main event, and Smith wasn’t here for the criticism these artists faced for taking the invite from the Republican camp. He went on a passionate rant, laying out reasons why some folks might’ve voted for Trump — something he’s even said he kinda wished he had done. He also defended Soulja Boy for cashing in big for his gig and gave a shoutout to Snoop Dogg for his work with the Snoop Youth Football League.
“This brother sending cats to college, he sending cats to the NFL, we just gon’ ignore that? Because he performed at the inauguration?” Smith said as he called out those who “turned against” Ice Cube after he met with Trump back in 2020 to talk about his “Contract with Black America” plan. “Now that the brothers come along and make something of themselves, and they got opportunities that they’re willing to exploit, and they choose to be apolitical, you wanna get in their a**?”
Soulja Boy also hit up social media after the backlash to set the record straight, saying that Trump put money in his pockets, and honestly, that’s all that matters to him.
“They paid me a bag,” the Atlanta rapper explained. “Obama ain’t never put no money in my f**king pockets, ni**a. Kamala ain’t never put no money in my f**king pockets, ni**a. Trump put money in my pockets, ni**a….Y’all suck my di*k, ni**a. Y’all want me to not answer the phone for the f**king president? This ni**a [is] the president of the motherf**king United States. Trump wasn’t even there. It wasn’t even a Trump event. It was the Crypto Ball for crypto.”
Nelly backed up his choice to perform at the inauguration too, stating that he “respects the office” of the president, no matter who’s in charge or which party’s calling the shots.
“I respect the office,” Nelly said to Willie D in a YouTube stream Saturday. “This isn’t politics. The politics, for me, it’s over. He won. He’s the president. He’s the commander-in-chief of what I would like to say is the best country in the world. It is an honor for me to perform for the president of the United States, regardless of who is in office. If President Biden would have asked me to perform, I would have performed. If Vice President Kamala Harris would have won and asked me to perform, I would have performed.”
