From lyrics to lifestyle, the world of rap has often attracted controversy, stirring debates and sparking outrage in equal measure. Among the myriad of issues that have ignited public scrutiny, one recurring theme is the clash between rappers and animal rights activists. Over the years, many rappers have angered PETA in several different ways. The renowned organization advocating for the ethical treatment of animals has frequently found itself at odds with Hip-Hop acts. Here’s a list of rappers who have upset PETA and found themselves in the organization’s crosshairs.
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Offset
On Cardi B’s 31st birthday in October 2023, Offset went above and beyond with the gifts he got her. The “Stir Fry” rapper gifted his then-wife three expensive crocodile skin Birkin bags. Obviously, PETA frowns heavily upon such things, and the organization wasted no time in expressing its frustrations. Soon after the photos of the bags hit the internet, PETA vice president Lisa Lange dropped a statement addressing the issue. “Instead of using his wealth and influence for good, Offset chose to funnel hundreds of thousands of dollars into a gruesome, violent industry that electroshocks crocodiles, shoves metal rods into their heads in an attempt to scramble their brains, and mutilates them while they’re still alive,” she wrote.
Cardi B & Megan Thee Stallion
On August 7, 2020, Cardi B and Megan Thee Stallion dropped their smash hit, “WAP.” The song was accompanied by a music video which PETA subsequently blasted the two rappers for. Three days after the video dropped, PETA aired its opinion on the video's apparent use of live tigers. Their statement read, “If Tiger King taught us anything, it’s that tigers and other wild animals are abused for music videos, selfies, and gawking roadside zoo visitors. So if real animals were used instead of computer-generated imagery, the message sent is that animal exploitation is Okurrr—and it isn’t. If Cardi B and Megan Thee Stallion really care about p**sy liberation, they wouldn’t use suffering big cats as props.”
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Valee
When Valee dyed his little dog red in 2019, the rapper probably didn’t think it would cause any outrage. However, the opposite happened as he joined the list of rappers who got on the bad side of PETA. On May 27, 2019, he uploaded a video on his Instagram, showing off his newly-dyed red dog. A month later, on June 28, 2019, he revealed on Twitter that PETA had sent him a letter. It reads, in part, “Valee should know that putting dye on animals is extremely dangerous. Although the dye used on Valee's dog was reportedly non-toxic and vegan, no animal has a natural desire to be dyed.” While they also implored him to take down the video, Valee has left it up since then.
Big Boi
When Maroon 5 headlined the Super Bowl Halftime Show in 2019, they were briefly joined on stage by Big Boi. One-half of the iconic Hip Hop duo OutKast, the rapper donned a fur coat as he delivered a great performance before stepping off the stage. Following the event, however, PETA wrote a letter to Big Boi expressing their disappointment and disapproval of the rapper’s fashion choice. The full letter reads:
Dear Antwan, Our hearts sank when you took the stage during the Super Bowl in a fur coat. You have many, many fans here at PETA and around the country who love your music, and were thrilled when it was announced that you’d be involved in the halftime show. Can we please convince you to make that your last appearance in a fur coat? We can help you donate any furs you have to people in need as we’ve done numerous times over the years with the thousands of coats donated by people who, once seeing how horribly animals are treated on fur farms and trapped in the wild, gave them up. We’ve given furs to homeless shelters in this country and sent donated furs to Syrian refugees who desperately need the extra warmth. We’d be honored to add your furs to this donation program. There will soon be a gorgeous faux fur on its way to you that offers a look that kills that no animal had to die for. The animals need you on their team, what do you say?
Kanye West
Kanye is one of a few rappers to successfully rile PETA up multiple times. He did it in 2010 when he arrived at a fashion week event in a fur coat. After he released “Theraflu,” in 2012, he angered the organization again. In the song, Kanye raps, “Tell PETA my mink is draggin’ on the floor,” lyrics which earned him another scathing statement from the group. Most recently, in 2022, Ye came under fire when he used the photo of a skinned monkey to promote a song. On January 14, 2022, PETA president Ingrid Newkirk gave a statement to Billboard addressing the topic.
“The photo is reminiscent of the monkeys PETA has found, sometimes heads, sometimes hands, sometimes the whole body, in meat markets around the world and it makes it clear that when you remove the fur you can’t miss that there’s a person in there, that they are fellow primates, and do not belong to us to abuse for any purpose — not in laboratories, roadside zoos, movies, or meat markets,” Newkirk said.
