Yassin Bey Dons ‘White Lies Matter’ Shirt Amid Kanye Backlash
Written by SOURCE on October 8, 2022
Yasiin Bey has entered the chat.
The Brooklyn-born artist, formerly known as Mos Def, has issued an apparent response to Kanye West’s “white lives matter” tee, which he unveiled in Paris earlier this week. Bey shared a series of Instagram photos in which he donned a shirt that featured the controversial slogan; however, in his design, the “v” in “lives” was blacked out, turning the phrase into “white lies matter.”
Kanye’s original tee featured the “wlm” slogan on the back, and the face of Pope John Paul II on the front. Bey’s design bore the image of German philosopher Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel, who is widely criticized for his views on race and Eurocentric account of history.
Bey’s post credited Anuar Khalifi, a Spanish-Moroccan artist who owns The Third Line Art Gallery in Dubai. You can check out the Bey and Khalifi tee in the Instagram carousel above.
Kanye has faced mounting backlash over his use of “white lives matter,” a phrase that many consider dismissive of the Black Lives Matter movement. Music figures and fashion insiders, like Diddy, Gigi Hadid, Tremaine Emory, and Meek Mill have publicly criticized Kanye for the T-shirt and his subsequent defense of the design. Ye addressed the controversy during a Thursday appearance on Tucker Carlson Tonight.
“I do certain things from a feeling, I just channel the energy. It just feels right. It’s using a gut instinct, a connection with God, and just brilliance,” West said about his creative choices. “… People say, ‘Well, as an artist you don’t have to give an explanation,’ but as a leader, you do.’ So the answer to why I wrote White Lives Matter on a shirt is because they do. It’s the obvious thing.”
