As you would expect, Kanye West’s Yeezus tour merch has drawn criticism for its usage of the Confederate flag. In a surprising twist, Kanye is even getting push back from his own tour opener. Q-Tip — whose A Tribe Called Quest is set to open for Kanye in NYC later this month, marking their final two performances ever — has taken to Twitter to voice his disapproval over Kanye’s Confederate flag t-shirt. “Fuck the confederate flag,” Q-Tip tweeted. “I love Kanye no shots but my people continue to suffer psychologically from hardships that happened under that banner.”
Asked about the flag in interviews, Kanye has said it’s his attempt to take back the flag and redefine its negative stigma. He told 97.1 AMP Radio: “React how you want. Like I said, any energy you got is good energy. You know, the Confederate flag represented slavery, in a way––that’s my abstract take on what I know about it, right? So I made the song ‘New Slaves.’ So I took the Confederate flag and made it my flag. It’s my flag now! Now what are you gonna do?”
