Atlanta hip-hop artist, activist and avid Bernie Sanders supporter Michael Render, best known as Killer Mike, returned to Real Time With Bill Maher this past weekend. Alongside comedian and designer Margaret Cho, political analyst Ana Navarro and business reporter Josh Green, the Run the Jewels rapper discussed Beyonce's polarizing "Formation" video and Super Bowl halftime performance of the song.
After discussing the 2016 presidential campaign and the attention paid to Donald Trump in the media and on television in particular, Maher brought up Beyonce's riveting performance of "Formation" for the panel to discuss. He kicked the discussion off by stating "To me, watching that, I thought that this looked like every other halftime show I've ever seen."
Maher then contrasted his own reaction with the right-wing interpretation of the show, explaining that according to many prominent, outspoken public figures including Rush Limbaugh and Rudy Giuliani, "It was an affront to everything we hold dear." Limbaugh had cited the performance as evidence of our society's cultural "decay" whereas NYC's former mayor called it "outrageous."
"White people: It's not always about you," Rolling Stone reports Killer Mike said of "Formation." The rapper continued: "When you hear her talk about the record, she says like first, 'I'm not in the Illuminati.' She's talking to other black people saying, 'Look stupid, because I'm not at Ferguson when you want me to be doesn't mean I sold you out.' And then the rest of the first verse is her telling other black people, 'I like being black, this is the type of black I am. I like the fact my daughter's black, I like my old Michael Jackson nose, I like my child with an afro. I like me.' White people, that conversation wasn't even for you."
On the same topic, Green said "The image of dancing black militants is like their nightmare come to life. And right in the middle of the big game that every Republican is watching," Salon reports.
Cho added: "Black pride doesn't have to take anything away from white culture. I think this is what Black America needed. It's what all of us needed."
Watch the full conversation below:
