Indian-Australian hip-hop artist L-FRESH The LION’s latest music video has been targeted with a string of racist and abusive comments.
L-FRESH, a fellow of YouTube's program posted the video ‘Raci$t/Our World’ that opens with a white male saying ‘Wealth, Greed.. Divide and conquer, plant a seed.. I’m a racist’ that seems to have offended some people, with one user commenting “Its not anti-racist its just anti-white”.
“Rubbish Garbage trying to copy Afro-American Rap and their lyrics. This should be stopped it will create racism here. Deport him back to Pakistan panja sahib or Dubai golden gurudwara their holy land. We don't want racism here,” commented another user.
“If you don't like Australia mate you can always *&^% off,”
“You know mate if you don't like the country then you can easily just *&^% off to another one. Stop bitching about it yet keep living here,” wrote a user on YouTube.
“Globalist faggot! You should whinge and complain about White people back in the shit hole country you belong in,” said another user.
L-FRESH The Lion aka Sukhdeep Bhogal Source: SBS
Interestingly, the lyrics of the song seem to be directed at such hateful attitudes displayed in the comments.
Surrounded by man-made walls, we're all prisoners/Trapped in a cycle of comments, sections and statuses/Void of any compassion, facts or analysis".
L-FRESH says he has purposely allowed the hateful comments to remain.
"The video is not anti-white. Those who actually listen to the lyrics will easily understand. It is anti-white supremacist and anti-white nationalist," he told SBS Punjabi.
"The people making racist, ignorant and abusive comments on my music video on YouTube are pretty much acting out the lyrics in the song," he said. "The lyrics are very clear."
Amid this flurry of hate, there have been quite a few of those supporting L-FRESH’s “thought-provoking music”.
“If you actually take the time to listen to L-Fresh's lyrics tone and delivery you will get a sense of the truth being told with rhyme and love and the clip is filled with people from all different races. If it makes you uncomfortable it’s cause you can’t handle the truth. Hip-Hop is protest music ✊🏾 I salute you my brother keep inspiring and making thought-provoking music,” commented a user.
“Dude I opened this video and was like yea pretty good.. now I can't stop listening .. extreme heat, straight fire and just pure genius”.
The video posted over a month ago has had nearly 200,000 views.
L-FRESH The LION was born in Sydney to Indian immigrant parents from Punjab who came to Australia in the eighties. He has a law degree and in the last few years has worked in the community assisting refugees and migrant groups.
