Kendrick Lamar held a cordial meeting with controversial political and religious leader Louis Farrakhan.
The 29-year-old rapper was all smiles as he met the Nation of Islam chief, who he namechecked while guesting on a verse on Big Sean’s 2013 hit Control.
Farrakhan posted pictures of their meeting, writing beneath one image, “I was very honored to meet and talk with my powerful brother and Hip-Hop artist Kendrick Lamar. The Cultural Revolution is On.”
Under another, he added, “The artistic community has historically been in the vanguard of social change.”
In a speech last year, the 83-year-old religious leader lavished praise on Kendrick for his politically charged performance at the Grammy Awards, which saw the hip-hop star perform his track The Blacker The Berry while dressed as part of a prison chain gang.
In the speech hailing black artists for taking on political issues, Farrakhan also singled out Beyonce for her Super Bowl performance referencing revolutionary nationalist and socialist organization the Black Panther Party.
Farrakhan is a controversial figure within the civil rights movement as the Nation of Islam has drawn criticism for its teachings that black people are superior to whites.
He has also been condemned for making anti-Semitic and homophobic remarks, with anti-extremism charity the Southern Poverty Law Center classifying his Muslim organization as a “hate group”.
The meeting with Farrakhan comes ahead of Kendrick releasing the long-awaited follow-up to his acclaimed 2015 album To Pimp A Butterfly, DAMN on Friday.
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