Twista To McDonald’s: Why Do You Hate The Children?

noah | July 31, 2007 12:43 pm
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The fleet rapper Twista has responded to being removed from this Thursday’s show at a Chicago-area McDonald’s, which happened after the billboard-happy pastor at a local Catholic church complained about Twista’s lyrical content to higher-ups at the fast-food chain:

In an interview with The Associated Press, Twista said that in some ways, he was surprised by the announcement, “especially after hearing from certain people that represented McDonald’s that they were fans of the music and they were excited about the whole thing and that they backed me, and then to hear a few a days later that I was actually not on the show.”

However, he blamed the increased criticism of hip-hop in the wake of the racial flap over former CBS radio and MSNBC broadcaster Don Imus for putting pressure on the corporate giant to drop him from the series.

“They started hearing things … feeling like they were getting a little flak, and I felt like rather than stick by me and stick through it, they got scared,” he said. “I’ve been rapping the same way for 15 years. It only became a problem when Don Imus said something negative about black women and they needed a scapegoat.” …

Twista said that typically, when he performs at events that are more mainstream and that attract kids, he cleans up his lyrics, and had intended to do so for the Chicago performance.

“I was actually going to have a school with a choir come sing the song Hope with me. So now … McDonald’s have to tell the kids that they can’t perform.”

You tell ’em, Twista. This is going to be a blow that no amount of free orange drink can wash away!

McDonald’s Drops Rapper From Tour [AP via Fox] Earlier: The Hamburglar Steals Twista’s Dream Of Performing In A Parking Lot