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media personality Adam22 defended his recent interview with someone involved in his murder Pop Smokeleaving social media users angry.
The controversial Media personality Adam22 publicly defended his actions by interviewing one of the four men charged in the death of up-and-coming rapper Pop Smoke. “I didn't do this interview because I don't care,” the skateboarder-turned-podcast host expressed in a video. “That's what a lot of people seem to think. 'Adam just doesn't give an af**k.' It's not like that at all. I did this interview because I thought it was an important historical record of someone involved in one of the most tragic, insane stories in rap history.”
The interview in his Without Jumper The podcast was with Blockstar, who was 15 at the time of the 2020 murder of Brooklyn rapper Canarsie in Los Angeles, California. received four years in prison in accordance with a plea deal struck with prosecutors. Blockstar sat down for the interview after his release from a juvenile detention facility and expressed his condolences to Pop Smoke's family, but no remorse for his actions. “I send my condolences to the family. I hope it never happens. But I don't regret anything,” he said. “Growing up, my people, my family told me, 'You're not sorry for anything. Whatever you did, you did it for a reason and you stood by it.”
In the video, Adam22 also referenced DJ Vlad, another figure many have similarly accused of exploiting black culture and Hip-Hop in his interviews. “I remember when Vlad was really hot for interviewing Keefe D… I thought it was pretty impressive that Vlad stood up to his principles and did that interview. It was an important story,” he said. Adam22 would also say that someone else would have interviewed Blockstar if he hadn't.
The explanation, however, drew more ire from observers on social media. Akademiks addressed the situation live and the damage it could lead to. “[H]Before in the media we need to take some responsibility… I wonder if he knows the ramifications of what he's doing… the n— one killed in Hip Hop… then getting paid to tell the story on a Hip Hop platform… it's a dangerous precedent.”
Check out the other reactions to Adam22's video below.
