Queen Naija Speaks Out Amid Backlash from Forthcoming New Song “Set Him Up” f/ Ari Lennox

Queen Naija has fired back at critics who aren't happy about her Ari Lennox collaboration, due to previous comments Naija has made that many deem colorist.

April 4, 2021

Queen Naija has fired back at her critics following the news of her collaboration with Ari Lennox, “Set Him Up.”

“lol the fact that people think they can get ‘rid’ of me or take me off my own song is ridiculous,” Naija wrote on Twitter. “I don’t want nor need y’all’s validation to continue to win! whatever y’all say about or to me cannot stop my blessings. The ratio of people who love me outweighs the hate!”

The backlash first emerged after Lennox shared the artwork for the song, tweeting, “I wasn’t playing…. out April 7th” on Friday.

The controversy originally stems from colorist remarks that Naija made in a video in 2017, back when she was a YouTube personality. In the clip, she shared a story about how she was bullied as a child, calling her attackers “ugly” and “nappy-headed little girls” because they were “jealous” of her hair. Though she didn’t outright discuss who the bullies were, her choice of words didn’t sit right with many, and Naija was labeled a colorist.

Naija has since apologized and attempted to explain her former sentiments, taking to social media last year to unpack the situation. “I have never been a colorist. I have never felt that I was better because I was light-skinned,” she said. “I feel like melanin’s beautiful… The words I have used in the past, they were probably ignorant. Not probably. They were ignorant. Back then, I didn’t know they were ignorant because that’s what I was just used to. I wasn’t that educated on my culture and wasn’t deeply rooted into it.”