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Rapper Lil Pump criticised for racist gesture

  • Published
    18 December 2018
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Lil Pump at a showImage source, Getty Images
Image caption,

Lil Pump has more than 17.4 million followers on Instagram

By Tom Gerken, BBC UGC & Social News
And Kerry Allen, BBC Monitoring

US-Colombian rapper Lil Pump has been accused of racism after he teased a new song which uses a derogatory term.

In the song's lyrics, Pump says "they call me [Chinese basketball player] Yao Ming because my eyes real low" before adding the phrase "ching chong".

In a video posted to his 17.4 million Instagram followers teasing the song, Pump pulls back his eyes as he mimes to the lyrics.

Lil Pump rose to international prominence in 2017 with his song Gucci Gang, which has been viewed over 847 million times on YouTube, external.

The rapper has faced a backlash on social media, with Chinese users flooding his Instagram posts with comments calling him "racist" and "disgusting".

Meanwhile on Chinese social media site Sina Weibo, thousands of users have added their voices to the criticism, with many posting screengrabs to prove they have reported Pump for inappropriate content on Twitter and Instagram.

Others have said that Pump "needs teaching some respect", with some posting memes criticising anyone who says they like the song.

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Hip hop hits back

The reaction in China has not merely been confined to the written word, with some taking things a step further and bringing their anger into the recording booth.

This has led to the creation of several "diss tracks" criticising Pump.

Chinese characters read: "I hope you can understand he's just an idiot"Image source, Miaopai
Image caption,

The videos to the diss tracks typically show the lyrics on-screen

The BBC have approached Lil Pump for comment.

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