Kendrick Lamar backs out of GQ performance, claims profile was racist

Being called "Man of the Year" and the next "King of Rap" is supposed to be a good thing...right? Well some members of Kendrick Lamar's camp seem to think otherwise.

Anthony "Top Dawg" Tiffith, CEO of Lamar's label, Top Dawg Entertainment, has released a statement declaring how disappointed TDE was in the representation of the label in GQ's latest issue.

In the statement, Tiffith says:

"The story, written by Steve Marsh, put myself and my company in a negative light. Marsh's story was more focused on what most people would see as drama or bs. To say he was 'surprised at our discipline' is completely disrespectful."

The article does reference Compton's violent rap history and even compares Tiffith to Death Row CEO Suge Knight.

Tiffith also went on to say:

"The racial overtones immediately reminded everyone of a time in hip hop that was destroyed by violence, resulting in the loss of two of our biggest stars. We would expect more from a publication with the stature and reputation that GQ has. As a result of this misrepresentation, I pulled Kendrick from his performance at GQ's annual Man of the Year party."

GQ's editor-in-chief, Jim Nelson, fired back in a statement saying:

"Kendrick Lamar is one of the most talented new musicians to arrive on the scene in years. That's the reason we chose to celebrate him, wrote an incredibly positive article declaring him the next King of Rap, and gave him our highest honor: putting him on the cover of our Men of the Year issue. I'm not sure how you can spin that into a bad thing, and I encourage anyone interested to read the story and see for themselves. We were mystified and sorely disappointed by Top Dawg's decision to pull him at the last minute from the performance he had promised to give. The real shame is that people were deprived of the joy of seeing Kendrick perform live. I'm still a huge fan."

How do you see it?