Kanye West has earned more than a few critics for his recent political takes. Communicating primarily through his Twitter account, Kanye has pretty much aligned himself with President Donald Trump and spurred conversations about slavery, political party affiliations, and celebrities' ability to influence the masses.
People keep telling Kanye to think before he speaks—or tweets—but Mr. West doesn't seem too inclined to listen, as he's never been one to censor himself. Neither has former NBA player Matt Barnes, who seems to always tell it as he sees it—and as he sees it right now, Kanye is tripping.
Barnes commented on Kanye's recently espoused perspective about slavery during an interview with TMZ Sports.
"I think to me there's a disconnect there, man," Barnes said of Kanye's slavery comments. "For a man to even talk about that just means he's not in a comfortable, secure place as a man, you know what I mean? And I think the fact that he's open enough to share it gives this country the chance to poke at him, top of all the other bullshit he's talking about with Donald Trump and I don't believe in anything he's saying as far as that standpoint, but I believe in him as a father and as a man."
My point is for us to have stayed in that position even though the numbers were on our side means that we were mentally enslaved
Barnes also thinks Kanye should take the gang threats he has received seriously.
"You gotta be careful," Barnes said of Los Angeles. "You acting like you gonna do some shit. They don't play out here with gangs, so you're treading on thin ice right there, man."
Barnes said he knows the man who made The College Dropout, an album that greatly influenced Barnes' life, is "in him still." But he encouraged Kanye to "chill out," stop doing interviews, and focus on his family for the time being. Barnes also posted an Instagram video addressing the Kanye controversy. He emphasized that above all, Kanye should be thinking of his kids right now.
Barnes received a name-drop on Kanye's "30 Hours" off The Life of Pablo, which referenced the feud between Barnes and Derek Fisher over the former's then-estranged wife Gloria Govan.
