Cancel culture has run rampant for the last few years, and while many artists who found themselves embroiled in a cancel scandal have managed to redeem themselves, others haven’t been as successful. Singer Daniel Caesar has been in the latter category, thanks to his controversial comments about the Black community, and he’s finally opening up about his experience and future.
According to Uproxx, the “Let Me Go” singer got candid about his cancellation while in an interview with Apple Music. During his chat with journalist Nadeska Alexis, Caesar reflected on sharing his thoughts on how Black folks responded to white social media star YesJulz making an off-color joke about wearing a shirt that read, “N***as lie a lot.” In case you forgot, fans were unhappy with the singer after he rushed to YesJulz’s side and questioned why Black people are “so mean” to white people, according to Rap-Up.
BuzzFeed reported Caesar said, “Why are we being so mean to white people right now? That’s a serious question. Why is it that we’re allowed to be disrespectful and rude to everybody else and when anybody returns any type of energy to us. That’s not equality. I don’t wanna be treated like I can’t take a joke. … White people have been mean to us in the past, yeah, but what are you going to do about it?”
At the time, Caesar apologized for the method of expressing his idea, though he stood by his statements.
After Alexis asked his thoughts on the backlash, Caesar said he understood why his comments ruffled a few feathers.
“I completely understand the response,” he said.
The “Peaches” singer continued, explaining it took time for him to understand what happened.
“And in time, after taking time to get over myself and to really honestly look at myself and everything that was happening, I was wrong. I was wrong, and I’m sorry about that,” Caesar shared. “For a long time, I was like, ‘You can’t do anything, you can’t say anything without whatever. You can do and say whatever you want, but it’s like for every action, there’s an equal and opposite reaction. And that’s physics. That’s science. That’s one of those things that the knowledge of that can literally put my mind at ease where I’m like, oh, I did deserve. What happened, happened because I deserved it, because I knocked the domino over and set a course in motion.”
Caesar also shared how he felt when his peers in the industry spoke out against him.
“You learn not to trust what people on the internet have to say and what people that you don’t know have to say,” he said. “Seeing that people that I do know that I care about, them being hurt, then it’s like, ‘ah, damn, all right.’ I was like, ‘okay, you know me.’ It’s because it’s seeing that people that know me, because I felt in my — clearly my ego is going out of control.”
Twitter was skeptical after a clip of the interview went viral. Most do not know whether the singer deserves a spot on their good side.
“Ehh whatever, but that new album 🔥🔥🔥,” one user wrote.
“Damn he was canceled so quick he didn’t have enough money to get his teeth fixed. I hate that for him,” another wrote.
“All right now, Daniel, maybe I’ll finally go put Freudian on again,” one chimed in.
While another expressed Caesar is not worth redemption.
“Sorry Daniel… we have Giveon now,” they wrote.
Caesar’s latest album, Never Enough, dropped April 7.
