Reading the text reminded me a lot of the saying life imitates art. A lot of Black musicians talk about their struggle in regards to their racial identity in America in their music because a lot of their life has had to do with race. America more specifically white Americans has often condemned black musicians when speaking on their experiences about their blackness, suppressing them once again. They often don’t realize how their music is telling the harsh reality that they have had to face in America and that condemning them for that it’s not only disrespectful but outright ignorant. I’ve noticed that whether it’s Rene Marie or Jay Z, the way they choose to be musicians is up to them and for no one else to really criticize. Not only that, I’ve seen it in regards to Kendrick Lamar wherein certain lyrics that he has in his songs where he’s talking about what it’s like to grow up black in Compton and the relationship that he has with the police. Early on in his career and even now, white America often were overly critical saying that he was horrible for saying that the police were bad. Fast forward to now where BLM is a raging movement, he was proven to be right in the eyes of not only America but globally as well, even though some to this date doubt that.  It could be that they didn’t understand or that they didn’t care to understand, regardless of whatever, they decided that his music was “violent” and gave him such a bad reputation. Race to a black person is everything, so it’s no surprise that their experiences with their black identity are portrayed in their music and then their art. It surprises me to an extent that America condemns artists for how they choose to express how America has shaped their black experience. There’s a saying that people sometimes are more offended at being called a racist than actually being one. That’s the same way I view America. America doesn’t like to be called out for being its past because of its progress. They not only sweep it under the rug but they go out of their way to suppress its racist past.  America’s history has been racist, American politics is racist, people in America can be racist. That’s what and how Black American musicians see this country.   By trying to tell black musicians to not write or detail about their black experience in America in their songs is racist. Also if you’re not a person of color or black it’s not really your place to answer or question how a musician chooses to express themselves and their racial identitiy. People should just stop trying to police and control the narrative of Black People in America.