Lil Jon addresses Oxford Guild on US race relations and Obama's presidency: 'I don't man, that's an intense question'
What happened during the Atlanta-based rapper's student lecture
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Your support makes all the difference.No, he didn’t carry quite the same gravitas as Kanye West did when he guest lectured at Oxford University back in March.
But Lil Jon’s Oxford Guild address appears to have been an amusing one, none-the-less, if slightly lacking on the educational front.
The Atlanta-based rapper and record producer ̶ famed for saying the word “Yeah” lots of times on Usher’s aptly titled “Yeah”, and encouraging a generation of 00s teens to “Get Low” on track “Get Low” ̶ was asked a series of questions on a host of subjects, from race relations in the US to Obama’s presidency and the all-important continuation of the crunk genre.
Here are some of the best responses and answers, as dictated by The Tab Oxford’s Twitter feed.
On his initial reaction to being invited to Oxford Guild…
“I thought it was a joke. Am I being catfished? I was kind of speechless after I realised it was real. Thank you for having me, this is great. I've never been to a college and spoke.
On what The East Side Boyz are up to these days…
“I have no idea, dawg.”
On his thoughts about President Obama's administration…
“I think Obama's done a great job. It takes time to restore an old historic car - you can't just do it overnight. That's how I look at the administration that came before Obama. He put a new engine in it, he put some new rims, got a paint job. He's criticised, and at the end of today it's because he's black. The numbers don't lie - unemployment is down, Obamacare is a great thing. I think Hillary is about it for 2016.”
On how he sees race relations evolving in future in the US…
“That's a pretty intense question. I don't know man.”
On what he’d be doing if he wasn’t ‘doing music’…
“I'd be a psychologist or psychiatrist, I'm very good at helping people with their problems. In high school I was the guy all the girls came to with their problems.”
On the craziest thing he’s done on tour…
“I can’t tell y’all. I can’t remember. I spray people with Champagne in their faces sometimes.”
On whether he thinks the revolution will be televised…
“It's already happening - do you see what's happening in the US right now? You just want to ask a crazy ass damn question.”
On what made him able to evolve as an artist…
“Skateboarding showed me culture - the Latino kid, the Asian kid, how the world is. I don't like to stay in the box. I've never been scared to do something. I feel I could jump on a nursery rhyme and not be killed. If you have a gift, you shouldn't keep that gift in one place, you should spread it around.”
On how he takes care of his voice…
“I project from my diaphragm, not my throat. ‘YEAH’. Y'all waiting on that?”
On whether he sees a different side to Kanye West in the studio…
“Kanye, I've known the dude for a while. He's a good dude, stuff just happened to him throughout his life that's changed him a little bit. He's still a good guy deep down. People just misunderstand him, when he talks a certain way. He's just expressing himself, he's intense. I couldn't do the big spectacle thing. I'm on the road every day, I'm intoxicated some times, it'd take time to write a nice speech.”
On the reputation he thinks reality TV shows are giving Atlanta…
“I hate them shows (Real Housewives etc.). They're not real. I can't understand why people watch them. People are acting wild and crazy. I don't like the way it represents black folks in general.”
On the problem he sees with the media…
“Nicki Minaj didn't get that much bad press for ‘Anaconda’. She knows what she's doing. I don't think hip hop gets as much flack as it used to. People said I was objectifying women. Am I telling her to shake her ass like that? If she wants to shake her butt, let her shake her butt!’”
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