Daniel Caesar wasn’t sure if he was going to be able to come back. Back in 2019, he went on a bizarre rant on Instagram Live in defense of influencer YesJulz. She had been accused of cultural appropriation and making demeaning comments about Black women. However, the Canadian R&B singer came in to defend her honor, wondering why Black people were “so mean to white people,” and pled for equality.
Obviously, this ended up rubbing people the wrong way. Consequently, his momentum chilled significantly and his lukewarm album CASE STUDY 01 was met with a tepid response. Caesar also didn’t help things by going relatively MIA from social media and public settings. Ultimately, his reaction is a shrug, hating that he could be shuttled away for being himself. “I was canceled for, you know, speaking my mind,” he tells Billboard for a cover story. “I was canceled for being drunk and foolish in public. But that was something I was always allowed to do. No one gave a s–t [until I started to get famous].”
Daniel Caesar Opens Up About Cancel Culture
The “Get You” crooner admits that it took him a long time to get over the whole saga. Grappling with his fear of being misunderstood by the public caused him to retreat. He was always the kind of person to talk through his thoughts openly and freely, even if they’re half baked. Musically, it informs Caesar’s songwriting but it also gets him in trouble like it did with his father in the past too.
“I’m literally my father’s son,” Caesar explains. “My dad was the guy at sabbath lunch talking about how the government was going to put microchips in our arms. And I’m the same. If you get me riled up at a party, I’ll start talking about some crazy s–t. People roll their eyes, but that’s just the way we are.”
Clearly, this didn’t deter him too much in the end. After a tumultuous 2020 for Caesar, he ended up on Justin Bieber’s massive hit song “Peaches” in 2021. Then, he signs with Republic Records in 2022 and eventually ends up on Tyler, The Creator’s Chromakopia album. It all worked out in his favor in the end.
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