Rapper Lil Durk called out cancel culture during a Saturday Martin Luther King Jr. Freedom Fest in Nashville, inviting criticized country musical artist Morgan Wallen to join him on stage.
“And can’t nobody cancel s*** without me saying it, you know what I’m saying?” Durk told the crowd before inviting Wallen to stand by him.
#LilDurk brings out #MorganWallen in Nashville 🎤 https://t.co/QoEKewho7V pic.twitter.com/7xA5bw6lKl
— WGCI (@WGCI) January 16, 2022
The two musical artists then performed their 2021 song “Broadway Girls” before the roaring audience.
Wallen has been criticized repeatedly over a video of him shared in February 2021 that included the use of the N-word. Wallen promptly apologized and has since made efforts to show his concerns for friends in the black community.
Durk has stood by his friend Wallen, collaborating on the 2021 song. During an interview earlier in January with TMZ, Durk again affirmed Wallen is “no racist.”
“Nah, he ain’t no racist, that’s my boy. We had a long talk, he had his public situation. We ain’t behind closed doors. I’d vouch for him in a minute. He’s good,” Durk said.
“[Wallen] ain’t canceled, I talked to him. When I say you ain’t canceled, you ain’t canceled,” he added.
Other black performers have also appeared to join Durk’s lead. The Daily Wire previously reported:
Comedian Druski sat down with the 28-year-old country star for an interview on his Clubhouse show, “Behind the Vest,” at the end of December. Wallen told the funnyman that he reached out to Durk, asking him if they could work together.
“That song kind of came about over this summer, and I was really, really, really pumped on it,” Wallen said, adding, “Durk commented on my Instagram. … So I hit him up. Me and him had been talking a little bit throughout the year and kind of developed a friendship.”
He also told Druski that he’d welcome an opportunity to work with other rappers, and mentioned several he has his eye on, saying, “I do love Moneybagg [Yo]. He’s definitely at the top of the list. … But, like overall, ever…I’m trying to think of not just in the past little bit…Kendrick Lamar would be pretty cool.”
Despite the efforts by some to “cancel” Wallen, his 2021 album ended up becoming the best-selling album of the year. The artist reflected on the events of the past year in a popular Instagram post:
I could write a book on 2021. And I probably will one day. But for now, I wanna say thank you. Thank you to everyone who believed in me and continued to believe in me, even when it wasn’t the popular thing to do. Thank you to my family, my band, my friends, and my fans for having my back and sticking up for me when so many were coming for me. I hope my heart has shown through the noise.
I go into 2022 feeling inspired and free. Inspired to create from the heart and free to share those creations with you guys. Im so proud of how far we’ve come together. I still feel like this is just the beginning.
God bless y’all let’s crush this year.