Amid the increasingly multilayered controversy surrounding JAY-Z and Roc Nation's NFL dealings, and those dealings' effect on the activism work of Colin Kaepernick, recent Madlib collaborator Freddie Gibbs has tossed his take into the national discussion.
In a recent Instagram Stories update, Gibbs told fans he's "riding for JAY-Z straight up" and told critics of the widely panned partnership to simply "let it go" and move on.
"I'm riding with JAY-Z straight up, man," Gibbs said, as captured in the clip below. "Fuck Colin Kaepernick. All y'all n***as marched for Colin Kaepernick and he took a settlement and they didn't tell y'all what he got or nothing. He settled, so let it go. Y'all hating on JAY-Z for trying to own something in the NFL, man. Y'all n***as is some motherfuckin' crabs."
In subsequent updates to his Stories still live as of Monday afternoon, Gibbs explained he hoped Kaepernick understood that saying "fuck him" wasn't intended to be as harsh as it sounds.
"I wake up in the morning and tell my best friend 'Fuck you,'" Gibbs said. "I think I told my daddy 'Fuck you' the other day. Don't be hurt by that. But I mean what I said about that other shit . . . My word is bond. For all you little internet trolls, you can keep tweeting and keep chirping and all that old fuckshit. Ain't nobody gon' beat my ass."
Gibbs followed up that message by tweeting he and Jemele Hill "just had a dope conversation... that was very enlightening." It's unclear if the talk was done to be released publicly (on, say, Hill's Unbothered podcast) or a private conversation regarding JAY-Z, Colin Kaepernick, and the NFL. Hill responded by saying she "felt equally enlightened."
Gibbs also responded to a fan who said he's deleted the rapper's album after finding out he's supporting Hov.
At the tail end of last week, TMZ added another facet to the controversy with a report alleging that JAY-Z may soon become part-owner of an NFL team. Following that update, DJ Khaled and Cardi B were among the fellow artists who expressed optimism regarding alleged aspect of the dealings. Roc Nation signee Vic Mensa, meanwhile, sees a possible outcome for it all that includes Kaepernick returning to the league.
"We know the NFL is a slave game, so to have a black man in there, especially a black man with a socially conscious responsibility—because I know that's how HOV feels, man—I believe that Kaep gon' get that job," Mensa said while recently being bothered by TMZ. "I believe HOV's intentions are in the right place."
