Sir Mix-A-Lot Responds To All The Blake Lively 'Oakland Booty' Drama
Blake Lively has been facing strong criticism for a caption she wrote on a recent Instagram post.
The 28-year-old actress shared a photo of herself from the 2016 Cannes Film Festival red carpet on Tuesday. The Instagram shows Blake's front and back sides with the caption,
L.A. face with an Oakland booty.
The quote actually comes from the song "Baby Got Back" by Sir Mix-a-Lot. Many believe Blake's caption was racially insensitive because the lyric was originally written to salute black women's curves.
But now, Sir Mix-a-Lot is speaking up about the controversy. The rapper spoke with The Hollywood Reporter to share his opinion on the matter.
In the interview, he clarifies the song's intentions. He said,
That song was written with African-American women in mind, but trust me, there are white women with those curves everywhere, and they were once considered fat. And that's what the song was about. It wasn't about some race battle.
He continued,
I wrote the song because I wanted Cosmopolitan, I wanted all these big magazines to kind of open up a little bit and say, 'Wait a minute, this may not be the only beautiful.' I mean, I don't look at Serena Williams as fat. I don't think she has an ounce of fat anywhere on her. I didn't want there to be one voice. I wanted to say, 'Hey, us over here! What we feel like is this.'
The rapper believes the situation has been taken way out of proportion. He wasn't expecting Blake to receive such backlash. He dove into Blake's use of the lyric and why, perhaps, people should reconsider taking offense to the comment. He said,
If what Blake Lively meant by that comment was, 'Oh my goodness, I've gained weight, I look horrible,' if that's what she meant — and I doubt that she did — then I'm with the critics. But no one in the world is gonna tell me that a woman that wears that dress is thinking that she's fat. No, I'm sorry, it just doesn't happen. It sounds like to me like she was giving the line props. I think she's saying, 'I've got that Oakland booty,' or 'I'm trying to get it.' I think we have to be careful what we wish for as African-Americans, because if you say she doesn't have the right to say that, then how do you expect her at the same time to embrace your beauty? I mean, I don't get it. I think it's almost a nod of approval, and that was what I wanted. I wanted our idea of beautiful to be accepted.
The rapper also pointed out Katy Perry and Khloé Kardashian have both referenced the line on social media before as a way to celebrate their curves. Neither star received criticism in the past.
He explained,
A friend of mine, he said, 'Dude, I know Katy Perry did this, one of the Kardashians did this, but I don't understand, what did this girl do to make everybody pissed off?' So I checked it out, and looked at it and I was kind of… I liked it. You know, I like stuff like that, but I was a little surprised at the criticism.
You heard it from the man himself. More of Sir Mix-a-Lot's interview is available on The Hollywood Reporter.
Citations: Blake Lively Oakland Booty Sir Mix-A-Lot (The Hollywood Reporter)
