Shaboozey found himself in hot water after his big Grammy win Sunday … ’cause some viewers took issue with his acceptance speech, suggesting it ignored the role of enslaved Africans and their descendants in America.
In a mea culpa posted Tuesday, Shaboozey penned a message giving more context to his words.
The singer wrote … “To be clear, I know and believe that we — Black people, have also built this country. My words were never intended to dismiss that truth. I am both a Black man and the son of Nigerian immigrants and in the overwhelming moment of winning my first Grammy my focus was on honoring the sacrifices my parents made by coming to this country to give me and my siblings opportunities they never had.”
Shaboozey went on to note the significance of being the first Black man to win the Grammy for Best Country Duo/Group Performance on the first day of Black History Month.
“It stands on the foundation laid by generations of Black people who fought, sacrificed, and succeeded long before me,” he wrote. “This moment belongs to all of us.”
This all stems from the Nigerian-American rapper and country star paying tribute to his parents, who came to the U.S. to give him a better life.
After winning the Grammy for “Amen” — which features Jelly Roll — Shaboozey dedicated the accomplishment to the “children of immigrants” and “those who came to this country in search of better opportunity to be a part of a nation that promised freedom for all and equal opportunity to everyone willing to work for it.”
The comment also seemed to champion those wrongly victimized by the recent ramp-up of ICE’s aggressive and, at times, imprecise tactics. But some took issue with the sentiment.
Martin Luther King Jr.‘s daughter Bernice King posted on X, writing … “Are people including enslaved Africans, descendants of those enslaved, and Black people whose unjust, low-wage labor sustained the economy in the 1800s/1900s as immigrants when they say ‘immigrants built this country’?”
She added… “Our ancestors weren’t folks who came here seeking a better life. They arrived in chains, were bred like cattle, and severely violated, sexually and otherwise. Their trauma shouldn’t be diminished or forgotten, even in efforts toward freedom from ICE’s inhumane, violent tactics. We can only get to justice for all when truth is taught, embraced, and spoken.”
