Smokey Robinson is doubling down on his support of Jennifer Lopez after her highly-criticized Motown tribute at the 61st Annual Grammy Awards this past Sunday (Feb. 10).
The legendary singer took to his Instagram page on Tuesday (Feb. 12) to write a lengthy statement discussing that Motown was created with all people in mind, not just black people.
“Attention, all those of you who protested a wonderful, super talented, world renowned, super star like Jennifer Lopez, showing her love and support for Motown music, here’s some food for thought,” Robinson wrote. “On the very first day of Motown Berry Gordy told the five of us who were present, ‘I’m gonna start my own record company and we’re gonna make music for everybody and always be sure to make quality music that the world can enjoy.'”
He continues by stating that Motown Records and its artists reached far beyond just the black community, and made people all over the world happy through the power of their music. Through this, he continued to come for Lopez’s critics.
“So now you’re gonna try to diminish the scope of Motown and narrow it down to just music for Black people and you call yourself defending the image of Motown,” he continued. “Well you’re trying to set us back a hundred years. If you call yourself loving Motown, be happy that we reached so many people and broke down so many racial barriers and that an artist like Jennifer, even after hearing all your negative comments, still loved Motown enough to do the tribute anyway.”
Thoughts? Sound off in the comments.
