Keyshia Cole Tells Ari Lennox She Felt "Unprotected" During O.T. Genasis Feud

BY Erika Marie 13.6K Views
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Keyshia Cole
Keyshia Cole & Ari Lennox hopped on Instagram Live and discussed the "Love" singer's feud with O.T. Genasis.

She just wanted O.T. Genasis to respect the art that she created, but unfortunately, the back and forth between the rapper and members of Keyshia Cole's family has turned verbally vicious. After chopping and screwing Keyshia's hit song "Love" to create his chuckle-worthy, Crip-heavy track "Never Knew," the singer wasn't thrilled. When Keyshia Cole vocalized her disapproval, O.T. Genasis seemed to take things personally and unleashed a barrage of insults. 

Over the past few weeks, things have kicked up a notch as he's talked about Keyshia's private area and teased her mother for her drug addiction, resulting in Keyshia's siblings to step into the ring. They've even insulted Malika Haqq, O.T.'s baby mama, making the situation even worse. In a recent Instagram Live session with Ari Lennox, Keyshia spoke openly about the exchange and said she felt "unprotected" and bullied throughout.

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Before Keyshia brought up her beef with O.T. Genasis, she and Ari were talking about the right to carry firearms. "That’s why I was so…like honestly—I’m just not going to talk about that situation—but it just pissed me off so much because you know, at a time that everybody was going through so much in the Black community, getting killed and all that, getting pulled over and getting killed, and then you wanna do a whole song that I wrote about love and make it about shooting and killing and bang-banging," she said. "It's like, yoooo, sir. And then get mad that I say that I don’t like what you did like, turned the integrity of my music. And then just bully and bully and continue to bully."

Keyshia added that she spoke with hip hop legend MC Lyte about the situation. "I was just saying how it felt like I was so unprotected," she continued. The singer said that anytime she did try to speak up for herself, she felt as if things just escalated. "It was like no, ‘You come from the hood. You really ain’t sh*t. Your mom was on drugs your whole life. You don’t really have a right to what you feel about what you’ve created.' More so like, 'Lighten up. Why are you taking everything so seriously? It was just a joke.'"

When things turned nasty, Keyshia said she actually attempted to connect with O.T. Genasis by using some of her industry connections. "Like, ‘Do you know this guy? Like...is he okay? What's going on? Is he stressed out?’" she said she asked. "I don't know, what the hell... It should have been more so like... ‘My agenda didn’t fit your agenda. I apologize for that. I didn’t mean no disrespect when I did it.’ Then it would have just been the end of that instead of it having to be a thing." Watch Keyshia Cole and Ari Lennox below.


About The Author
Since 2019, Erika Marie has worked as a journalist for HotNewHipHop, covering music, film, television, art, fashion, politics, and all things regarding entertainment. With 20 years in the industry under her belt, Erika Marie moved from a writer on the graveyard shift at HNHH to becoming a Features Editor, highlighting long-form content and interviews with some of Hip Hop’s biggest stars. She has had the pleasure of sitting down with artists and personalities like DJ Jazzy Jeff, Salt ’N Pepa, Nick Cannon, Rah Digga, Rakim, Rapsody, Ari Lennox, Jacquees, Roxanne Shante, Yo-Yo, Sean Paul, Raven Symoné, Queen Naija, Ryan Destiny, DreamDoll, DaniLeigh, Sean Kingston, Reginae Carter, Jason Lee, Kamaiyah, Rome Flynn, Zonnique, Fantasia, and Just Blaze—just to name a few. In addition to one-on-one chats with influential public figures, Erika Marie also covers content connected to the culture. She’s attended and covered the BET Awards as well as private listening parties, the Rolling Loud festival, and other events that emphasize established and rising talents. Detroit-born and Long Beach (CA)-raised, Erika Marie has eclectic music taste that often helps direct the interests she focuses on here at HNHH. She finds it necessary to report on cultural conversations with respect and honor those on the mic and the hardworking teams that help get them there. Moreover, as an advocate for women, Erika Marie pays particular attention to the impact of femcees. She sits down with rising rappers for HNHH—like Big Jade, Kali, Rubi Rose, Armani Caesar, Amy Luciani, and Omerettà—to gain their perspectives on a fast-paced industry.

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