Rapper Chingy is facing backlash for agreeing to perform at a Log Cabin Republicans event this weekend.
On Friday, September 20, the gay conservative organization announced the line-up for their upcoming Red White & Rock event. According to TMZ, the event is scheduled to take place at Kid Rock’s Big Honky Tonk & Steakhouse in Nashville, Tennessee, on September 29, with musical performances and speeches by Donald Trump Jr. and partner Kimberly Guilfoyle.
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Social media users were quick to note the lack of recognizable names among the event’s line-up, which includes former Pussycat Dolls member Jessica Sutta, songwriter Chris DeStefano, and others. One name that stuck out to some users, however, was headliner Chingy.
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“They got Taylor Swift, but we got Chingy,” one user joked of the “Right Thurr” rapper.
“They actually found Chingy somewhere?” another wrote.
While the rapper has continued to release a steady output of one-off singles over the past decade, as well as a 2023 EP, Chingy has not released a full studio album since 2010. In an interview with TMZ earlier this year, he claimed that he was “blackballed” and his career derailed after transgender social media personality Sydney Starr claimed in 2010 that the two had been in a relationship. According to Complex, Starr claimed in 2012 that she had lied about her involvement with Chingy.
On Friday, some fans greeted the rapper’s involvement in the Log Cabin Republicans event with dismay, while others suggested that he’d taken the gig because he was short on cash. After hip-hop blog Baller Alert posted about the backlash on Instagram, Chingy apparently commented on the post via his official account.
“I’m a say this one time. MY JOB IS TO PERFORM AND I GET PAID TO PERFORM, NOT CAURR ABOUT POLITICS NOW YALL FIND SUMIN ELSE TO DO WITH YURR TIME [sic],” one comment from @chingy read.
After one Instagram user commented that if Chingy was “down bad,” the “culture would rally around” him and that he shouldn’t have to perform for Republicans “who hate you & your people,” the rapper’s account again responded.
“You can’t be down bad when you just bought a 500k house pimp,” the comment read. “Those people don’t hate me because they love my music. Music isn’t racist and that’s how I play it.”
“All this non sense [sic] yall creating bother me none,” the comment continued. “I’m a performers wether theses [sic] people political, homosexual or whetever they all love music. I have classic records they all love and I will perform them for them. So I hope that helps you innerstand [sic] that my job as an artist is to perform and make timeless music. That I did.”
According to The Root, Chingy returned to the Baller Alert post again, this time claiming that he had backed out of the Red White & Rock event and to clarify that he is not a Donald Trump supporter.
“YOU KNO WHAT JUS CAUSE I DONT WANT TO BE IN THE MIDDLE OF THIS MESS. I HAVE DECLINED PERFORMING AND NO IM MOT A TRUMP SUPPORTER NOR SUPPORTER OF ANYONE ELSE BUT CHINGY. THURR YOU HAVE IT [sic],” the comment read.
But on Monday, TMZ reported that Chingy’s rep had confirmed that the rapper would, in fact, still be performing at the Log Cabin Republicans’ event in Nashville this weekend. The rapper’s name remains among those of the artists scheduled to perform on the group’s website.
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