Canadian R&B singer Daniel Caesar set off a social media firestorm Tuesday when he suggested black people should lighten up.
“Being a victim doesn’t get you paid,” said Caesar, who described himself as “black as f**k.”
During an Instagram live chat, the 23-year-old opined that black people are “allowed to be rude and disrespectful to everybody” but are sensitive when others are the same to them.
“That’s not equality,” he said. “I don’t want to be treated like I can’t take a joke.”
Caesar said when comedian Dave Chappelle directed a homophobic joke at him, “I had to in the moment acknowledge that I was being f**king sensitive.”
The Ontario singer said he needs “to be able to joke just like everybody else.”
MORE: Drake Speaks Up About Gun Violence In His Hometown
Caesar – who confessed twice to being “drunk as f**k right now – added: “People are allowed to say what the f**k they want and I’m allowed to feel how I want but, it’s like, am I going to fight them or am I going to accept what they have to say and keep it f**king moving.”
He didn’t stop there. “White people have been mean to us in the past. What are you going to do about that? There’s no answer other than creating understanding and keeping it moving.”
Caesar likened blacks and whites to competing sports teams. “You can’t win the game by choosing not to accept the winning team’s strategy,” he said. “You have to acknowledge the strategy and then build a strategy on top of that.”
Caesar said he stands by what he said and doesn’t care if fans walk away. “I’m making music right now. I’ll put it out. You guys don’t have to listen to it,” he said. “Cancel me. Make me broke. Don’t listen to my next s**t if you think I’m s**t. It’s OK.
“Make me broke. Make me suffer for my opinion. I believe in it.”
Sure enough, social media is ablaze with reactions.
"i will never rock with no ni**a who believes black people falsely victimize themselves in the face of prejudice and racism," tweeted one. Wrote another: "So Daniel Caesar just got cancelled.."
Another tweet read: "Daniel Caesar really said black people aren’t at the top of society rn so we should stop hating on whites and mend our relationship with them so we can get like the 'winning team' The WINNING TEAM YALL. THATS WHAT HE CALLED WHITE PEOPLE. ITS IN THE LIVE. YOU CANNOT MAKE THIS UP."
Self-described advocate and author Kenidra Woods tweeted that she "might get some heat for this but what @DanielCaesar said about black people was right on point. His question: why are we so mean to people but whenever it's reciprocated, we're offended?"
Caesar's comments come only days after a short video debuted online in which Drake urged young black men to stop trying to be "the biggest and baddest from your... 'hood" and instead use the energy to have a positive impact on their communities. “I encourage everybody to lift the weight off of themselves,” he said, “because until you lift that weight you don’t realize how much it bent you.”