Rapper Sexyy Red has endorsed former President Donald Trump for the 2024 election, adding to the number of high-profile musical artists backing him.
Sexyy Red, whose legal name is Janae Wherry, appeared on a recent podcast with comedian Theo Von, who brought up the former president.
“Do you think more people are going to support Trump now in the hood or no?” Von asked.
“I like Trump,” Red replied.
“Yeah, they support him in the hood,” she said. “Because, at first, I don’t think people was f—ing with him, like they thought he was racist, saying little s— against women. But once he started getting black people out of jail and giving people that free money, ah baby, we love Trump. We need him back in office.”
Red’s comments received some backlash on social media, with some saying they don’t care what she believes politically, and others saying they would no longer support her.
Last week, the 25-year-old artist cracked the TikTok Billboard Top 50 chart with her song “SkeeYee.” The track is also holding steady at #67 on the Billboard Hot 100, having drawn 6.5 million radio impressions, and 6.2 million official streams.
Solidifying her status as a culturally relevant talent, Red has four songs on the TikTok Billboard Top 50, the second-most appearances of any artist on the chart, trailing singer Taylor Swift.
Red commented that she loved watching some of Trump’s past interviews where he trolled and poked fun at people who challenged or were outright disrespectful to him. “He funny,” she said. “We need people like him.”
Prior to running for office, Trump was an esteemed figure within the black music community, having been praised in rap songs on at least 67 different occasions.
After announcing his initial bid for the presidency in 2015, and that he would be running as a Republican, the mainstream establishment quickly turned on Trump, weaving a web of lies to cast him as a racist, based on mischaracterized, imprecise public statements he made.
Throughout his first term as president, Trump, however, made significant overtures to black Americans, speaking directly to them in order to demonstrate his commitment.
One such moment was during a speech at the White House addressing hundreds of black supporters, doing something few Republicans have ever done — directly address the institution of slavery.
“African Americans built this nation,” Trump told the crowd packed into the East Room of the White House. “You built this nation.”
His administration also passed the First Step Act, aimed at reducing recidivism, cutting unnecessarily long federal sentences, and improving conditions in federal prisons, where black men are statistically overrepresented.
While campaigning for a second term, Trump unveiled his “Platinum Plan,” which sought to boost investment into black communities by nearly $500 billion.
In 2020, Trump was backed by multiple rap artists, including 50 Cent, Ye, Lil Wayne, Lil Pump, BlocBoy JB, Five Foreign, Waka Flocka Flame, Asian Doll, and 6ix9ine.
Despite now being criminally charged in four separate cases, Trump’s support among the black entertainment community is still surging, with Red being the latest artist to publicly back the former president.
Here’s a list of newcomers:
- Rapper Bandman Kevo says he’s now backing Trump, having demonstrated his commitment by getting Trump’s must tattooed on his leg.
- YG, formerly notoriously anti-Trump, now says the black community has had a change of heart. “I ain’t going to lie, bro, the black community is not f—ing with Trump, but when this PPP s— and all that s— came out, black people forgave him,” YG said during an August 1 taping of a YouTube show. “I’m speaking about these mothf—ers in the hood. I am speaking on their behalf. This is what they say. ‘S—, Biden ain’t did nothing for us, that n—- Trump is passing out money.’”
- Buffalo rapper Benny the Butcher said last month that he too is backing the former president.
Multiple polls within the past few weeks have shown Trump polling historically well with black and Hispanic voters, averaging 20 percent black support, and 42 percent support among Hispanics.
Editor’s Note: A previous version of this story conflated Young Jeezy and YG into one rapper, whereas YG, not Young Jeezy, made the comments.
