Rapper In Hot Water Over Rihanna Comments

Eso (Max MacKinnon) posted shots after visiting Madame Tussauds in Hollywood with his wife. One showed him holding his fist up to Rihanna, in reference to her 2009 assault by Chris Brown. It was captioned, “Where did ya throw those fuckin car keys woman!?!” with “#smackmybitch #shelovesthewayithurts.”

He apologized, said the photos were meant to be “comedic” and accepted they were “in bad taste and unacceptable.”

MC Chance Waters wrote, “When a generally progressive and well liked artist who himself would never engage in violence against women feels comfortable engaging in obvious misogyny there is evidence of a much bigger problem – I feel this probably goes for all of us.”

MC Tongue emphasised that such behaviour “does not speak” for the community, adding, “We are progressive, we are positive, we want to change the world for the better with music.”

Urthboy drew attention to a 2010 Eso track “Walk On Clouds,” which featured the line “hitting that bitch like Chris Brown” and caused no outcry. Urthboy pointed out, “No one made a deal (then). Can’t remember a single mention. We are complicit.”