Kendrick Lamar doesn’t use Twitter that often any more, but if he did, his timeline and mentions would be flooded with angry tweets directed his way over his comments on Ferguson. In an interview with Billboard published this morning, Kendrick condemned the killing of Michael Brown, but said that the issues also start from within the community.

“I wish somebody would look in our neighborhood knowing that it’s already a situation, mentally, where it’s f—ked up. What happened to [Michael Brown] should’ve never happened. Never. But when we don’t have respect for ourselves, how do we expect them to respect us? It starts from within. Don’t start with just a rally, don’t start from looting — it starts from within.”
These comments have enraged many and sparked plenty of debate around what Kendrick meant. Azealia Banks weighed in on Kendrick’s comments, saying it’s “The dumbest shit I’ve ever heard a black man say.” Banks also criticized Kendrick for saying this to a “white publication” and to “speak for your fucking self” during her series of tweets that are still ongoing at the moment.