John Legend claims Trump-supporting rappers such as Lil Wayne and 50 Cent have been taken in by the president’s ‘lies’ and dissed them, calling the artists members of a sad new supergroup.
John Legend had some choice words for top rappers endorsing Donald Trump in the final days before the 2020 presidential election. The “All of Me” singer appeared onstage at Democrat Joe Biden‘s final campaign appearance in Pittsburgh, PA on Nov. 2. He called out the terrible traits in Trump that some rap artists are confusing as strengths, and without naming names, hinted that Lil Wayne, 50 Cent, Ice Cube and others were getting suckered by the president to endorse him.
“Now some people see the meanness, the bullying, the selfishness of Donald Trump and they mistake it for strength. A kind of twisted masculinity. Some see his greed and they mistake it for being good at business,” Legend told the audience from behind his piano onstage.
“Some of your former favorite rappers have been taken in by these lies. I think they even founded a new supergroup. It’s ‘The Sunken Place,’” Legend continued, without directly name checking the rappers. John then went on to explain that “Trump’s Platinum Plan for Black folks is nothing but fool’s gold.”
Both Wayne and Ice Cube have had positive things to say about Trump’s “Platinum Plan,” which would allegedly provide $500 billion in capital to Black communities. Wayne, 38, even met face to face with the 74-year-old about it. In an Oct. 29 tweet, Wayne smiled as he stood next to Trump and wrote in the caption, “Just had a great meeting with @realdonaldtrump @potus. besides what he’s done so far with criminal reform, the platinum plan is going to give the community real ownership. He listened to what we had to say today and assured he will and can get it done.”
While Ice Cube hasn’t officially endorsed Trump, he has been working with his team on the Platinum Plan after creating his own Contract with Black America. The 51-year-old took a lot of heat when a Trump campaign senior advisor let the news slip that Cube had been dealing with them. It even became a joke on Saturday Night Live that Cube was on Team Trump because he was afraid of Joe Biden’s potential tax proposal for the nation’s top earners, which is why 50 Cent said he wouldn’t vote for the Democrat. Fif claimed that he could be paying in upwards of 63 percent of his income when federal, state and local taxes were combined in both California and NYC under Biden.
SNL even parodied Cube’s support of Trump, showing Kenan Thompson and Chris Redd as the rapper/actor and and Lil’ Wayne, who were both seen in red “Make America Great Again” hats. Jim Carrey‘s Biden asked them, “Why in the name that is holy would you be voting for Trump?” to which they replied in unison, “Taxes.” Cube was actually upset by that, tweeting out the scene and wrote, “f**k you SNL…trying to reduce me to greed,” for implying he just wanted to protect his fortune by supporting Trump. When he was outed as working with Team Trump, Cube stressed that he reached out to Biden’s camp as well about his Contract with Black America, but was told that any conversations would have to wait until after the election.