British rapper Fakemink published a 605-word public statement on Wednesday (May 13) to address the backlash that followed his sets at Coachella and Rolling Loud.
The post went up just before noon London time, according to The Fader, and frames the criticism not as a failure on his part but as evidence of his haters' limitations.
At least one critic, Timothy Karoff for SFGate, called his Coachella performance lackluster.
"I genuinely underestimated how threatening it would feel for some of you to watch somebody become better than your favourite artist in real time," wrote Fakemink, real name Vincenzo Camille. "That is my fault."
The statement escalated from there.
"I've made peace with the fact that some minds are decorative," he wrote. "Being early requires a kind of mental independence most of the internet fundamentally does not possess."
He also offered a backhanded defense of his own impact.
“Mediocrity does not create this level of emotional instability in strangers,” he said. “Nobody has ever lost sleep over somebody being decent."
He closed with the line that gave the statement its title: "I forgive you. I understand. Not everybody is built for revelation."
The 21-year-old has risen from U.K. jerk rap circles to international underground recognition over the past 18 months, picking up co-signs from Drake and Frank Ocean along the way. His debut album Terrified is scheduled for release on May 22.
