has been a Professional Rapper for years, having faced many difficult conversations on privilege and appropriation throughout this career. Now, coming off the success of his debut FXX series Dave, a loosely autobiographical reflection on his own rise to hip-hop stardom, LD’s brand is bigger than ever. As such, the impact of his words have also magnified, and Lil Dicky took to Instagram to share a powerful statement on racial injustice, his close friendships with Elz and GaTa, and his role in the ongoing fight. 

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In the first of four slides, Dicky admits that he spent the majority of his life oblivious to the severity of systemic racism. “I thought to myself ‘how can someone actually be racist, that’s so illogical and dumb,'” he admits. “I figured something so clearly wrong, and so legitimately evil could never continue to survive in today’s enlightened society. I was wrong.”

He proceeds to draw on and Elz, both of whom play integral roles in Dave. “I began doing college shows, and the way some of these kids would talk to GaTa was insane,” he reflects. “I’ve been to a party where I heard somebody say they were gonna curb stomp him. Or then we would hang out with seemingly nice people, only to then be accused of stealing their laptop the next day. Nobody ever accused me of stealing anything before I hung out with GaTa.”

Admitting that he has “no idea what to do moving forward,” Dicky does understand that it’s important for those with a platform and a voice should use their position to help the cause. “Those of us unaffected every day by racism need to fight harder than anyone,” he writes. “It is our responsibility as human beings.” Check out his full statement below, and should you be interested in taking action, look to his caption for advice on who to reach out to.