A$AP Rocky Responds To Past Statements On Police Violence And Racial Injustice

Today, a 2015 Time Out interview with A$AP Rocky, in which the rapper made controversial comments regarding the shooting of Michael Brown in Ferguson, began to recirculate, prompting angry responses online.

In the interview, Rocky answers a question from the interviewer about feeling forced to use his position and status to speak out about issues affecting the black community. "So every time something happens because I'm black I gotta stand up?" Rocky asks in his response. "What the fuck am I, Al Sharpton now?" Read the full question and answer below:

The question from the Time Out interview was in response to comments that A$AP Rocky made during a discussion at Oxford University in 2015. After a Q&A session, Rocky fielded questions. In response to a question about expressing political opinions in rap, Rocky answered: "Not everybody should be like Kendrick or talk about political things just to stand out."

Rocky also addressed police violence at Oxford, saying "So one cop shoots a black person...that kind of shit is inevitable. Not to glorify it, but that's nothing new. Let's talk about the black-on-black crime."

Watch the full interview below. A$AP Rocky's comments on political rap and police violence begin at the 52:10 mark.

Rocky took to Twitter today to respond to the recirculation of these interviews in light of the recent deaths of Alton Sterling and Philando Castile at the hands of police officers. "FIRST YALH SAY IM ILLUMINATI ,THEN IM GAY , THEN SAY I DONT LIKE DARKSKINED CHICKS IN RED LIPSTICK, NOW IM DUMB N DONT CARE ABOUT BLACKS," he wrote, before continuing. "FUK ALL THESE COPS KILLIN THE URBAN YOUTH DEM, N FUK ALL YALH NIGGAS FOR DICK RIDIN ON BASH ROCKY DAY, LMAO, UNTIL NEXT TIME TWITTER." Some of the tweets have since been deleted (you can read those via Complex).

A representative for A$AP Rocky was not immediately available for comment.