Grammy nominated rapper Cash Codie, whose real name is Cody Mason, will no longer be hosting the American Music Awards next month after being accused of significantly ramping up his “blaccent,” a portmanteau of the words “black” and “accent,” in recent weeks. Mason, the white 26-year-old artist behind the Billboard smash hit “Different Kinds,” is no stranger to the blaccent accusation, but former instances were restricted solely to his voice when rapping. His critics today insist that the issue has become bigger than music.
Mason, who was recently announced as the host of the fifty third American Music Awards, posted a series of apologetic messages on Twitter concerning the shifting of hosting duties. “Words cannot express how sorry I am for pretending to be someone I’m not,” read one tweet. “I’m not looking for sympathy, but all I can say is that I was caught in the moment and the realization of a dream, and as a result, I forgot that kindness and courtesy must come before everything else.”
The Internet was not as apologetic. Posts on Twitter and Instagram openly mocked Mason’s apology, his lyrics, and damning incidents in which he was said to be using a blaccent. In Mason’s case, the accusations are especially difficult to dodge since every incident took place in the public sphere. The backlash, like Mason’s apology, began on Twitter.
“Onna gang yall really cant tell me nothin just like Kanye say,” wrote Mason two weeks ago. “I’m finna go CRAZY at the @AMAs! @CardiB Im tryna hit after the show on gang!!” The identity of the gang Mason was claiming to be affiliated with remains unknown.
“Real mfs do real thangz, catch ya boy in the buss down Rollie Presidential at the @AMAs, @AMAs am I tweetin yall too much lmaoo,” read another tweet. “Richest whiteboy doin it you heard!! Bought five whips all in cash I got different kiiiinds buck twenty on the dash you get left behiiiind,” read another, which quoted his hit single.
“Cash Codie is basically Al Jolson by another name,” tweeted singer-songwriter Deja Norris, who was nominated for four American Music Awards last year, taking home two. “The difference is that instead of wearing blackface he’s wearing chains and Rolexes. If the @AMAs allow this man to host the awards show, I will personally be boycotting them, and I hope that my fellow Black creators, as well as our non-Black allies, will choose to do the same.” Norris’ tweet, which accumulated sixty five thousand likes and six thousand retweets in a matter of days, was largely credited with kickstarting the pushback that removed Mason as host.
Before being officially relieved of hosting duties, Mason took to Instagram Live to protest the effort to remove him. “This just like how they did Kevin Hart,” said Mason, referring to the removal of comedian Kevin Hart as the host of the 2019 Academy Awards after old homophobic tweets of his resurfaced. “They just tryna keep a man down, and why? Cause he gettin money? Cause he whip a foreign? They better not let me host the Oscars neither, cause best believe Imma face a Backwood with Meryl Streep at the afterparty, see if I’m playin. They done let the wrong white boy get money, that’s for damn sure. And I better get my Grammy next year too, or else I’m running up and shooting sh–.” Following the livestream, the Grammys indefinitely banned Mason from future ceremonies and reportedly bolstered their security teams.
Article image by Chase Fade on Unsplash.