In a recent article from Complex titled “Here’s Why Post Malone Is a Problem,” hip-hop artist Post Malone was bashed and accused of being a culture vulture to both hip-hop and African-American cultures.
This came especially as a surprise to me because Post Malone has never been anything but a proud hip-hop artist, and the only so-called “negative” thing he has ever said about that is when he asked to be called an “artist” and not a “rapper.”
In the article by Shawn Setaro, Setaro goes on to say that the two terms are the same thing, which they obviously aren’t, and that Post Malone was “running away from rap since he began reaping the benefits of the association,” which is also not true.
When Setaro mentioned Post's dislike to being called a "rapper," he used this video to back it up, and you can clearly see he took it completely out of context.
10/10 for you, Shawn Setaro, you're on fire here.
Post Malone has embraced being a hip-hop artist and hip-hop culture from the very beginning of his career, with the exception of his early years where he was in a rock band.
The article goes on to not only be completely written from Setaro’s obvious hatred and bias for Malone but makes several racist remarks towards Post and white people in general.
Setaro is a white man, himself, but that does not mean racist remarks can’t be made just because he’s talking about his own ethnicity. I mean, “whites take everything but the burden from African-Americans” is an ACTUAL line in the article. How ridiculous!
Post Malone and this can be backed by absolutely anyone who listens to his music, is not a rapper. His music is hip-hop, yes, but it is hip-hop that was actually the result of fusing subgenres of hip-hop with rock and country as well.
So, to label him a “rapper” is actually an inaccurate and ignorant title because it shows a clear disrespect to his music, and that’s all he’s really asking for: to have his music respected for what it actually is and not just looped in with every other rapper in the game because he raps in some of his songs.
Many people across different social media platforms have shared the same dislike and disgust for the article in the comment sections of the posts promoting the article or by tweeting a reply to Setaro’s personal account.
But, despite its inaccuracy and borderline racist comments — and that’s giving Setaro the benefit of the doubt — Complex still chose to promote the article and defend the content.
I used to be a big fan of Complex and their work, but after this article Complex has shown us their true colors, and I would be lying if I said their credibility hasn’t almost completely diminished in my eyes.
I might still check their website every now and then for pop-culture related news, but I certainly refuse to be the regular viewer I once was until I see Complex fix the issues that they have with publicizing these horribly false and rude articles.
How can you trust a media company that you know allows bias to affect the news they report and how they report it?
I know I can’t.
Complex, you are literally one of the biggest, if not the biggest, representations of hip-hop culture, and whether you like it or not, that means you have to have higher standards for your articles than others.
A lot of fans turn to your company to find out the details of their favorite musical artist’s life or career, and this article about Post Malone was a terrible failure to fulfill your role that hopefully you will learn and grow from.
