Lil Pump has sparked backlash for lyrics he previewed on Instagram, which many found to be racist towards Asians.
Slated to appear in his upcoming song “Butterfly Doors,” the controversial lyrics contain the following line: “Smokin’ on dope / They call me Yao Ming ’cause my eyes real low (ching chong)”
The “Gucci Gang” rapper also slanted his eyelids while saying the line in the video uploaded on Instagram on Monday.
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One of the many who criticized Lil Pump for the lyrics and his gesture was New York rapper and Crazy Rich Asians star Awkwafina.
“Always nice to hear a new song with a Ching Chong adlib. Guess it’s better than ‘eyes chink’ like some other verses I’ve heard,” the actress wrote on Twitter. “But can we at least think of some more creative racist epithets? @lilpump.”
Awkwafina has since deleted the tweet and replaced it with another post celebrating female rappers who “use their music and platform to challenge the narrative, innovate the genre and empower themselves and others.”
Pump has yet to respond to the backlash, and it is still unclear if the reaction would force him to replace the Yao Ming line once the official song is released.
