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Nelly has received endless backlash from fans after he announced that he will perform at President-elect Donald Trump’s inauguration. He is joined by Snoop Dogg, Rick Ross and Soulja Boy as artists who will have performed at Trump-related events to celebrate his first day in office.
In a Saturday (Jan. 18) interview on the “Willie D Live” podcast, Nelly stated, “I’m not doing this for money. I’m doing this ‘cause it’s an honor. I respect the office. It don’t matter who is in office. The same way that our men and women, our brothers and sisters who protect this country have to go to war and have to put their life on the line for whoever in office. So,if they can put their life on the line for whoever in office, I can d**n sure perform for whoever in office.”
He later mentioned that he would like for people to show him where Trump is a “white supremacist,” before jokingly detailing a few statements and actions put in place by President Biden over the years. He even name-dropped Vice President Kamala Harris while attempting to stand behind his decision of performing at Trump’s second inauguration.
Artists like Fivio Foreign, Sleepy Hallow, OT7 Quanny, Lil Pump, the artist formerly known as Kanye West, Peezy, Icewear Vezzo, Kodak Black, Lil Wayne and many others have shown support for Trump in the past. While he was once a pop culture icon in the early 2000s, he has become more divisive since becoming a politician.
Soulja Boy responded slightly more aggressive to people sharing their frustrations with him performing at a Trump-related event. On Sunday morning (Jan. 19), the SODMG emcee exclaimed, “They paid me a bag. Obama ain’t never put no money in my f**king pockets, n**ga. Kamala ain’t never put no money in my f**king pockets, n**ga. Trump put money in my pockets, n**ga.”
He went on to later explain that Trump did not attend the event, and it was more focused on cryptocurrency. Rick Ross or Snoop Dogg have yet to publicly respond to the backlash from performing at the same event. Both artists have been known for being vocal about Ye’s support of the 47th president.
