Kendrick Lamar was recently named GQ's Man of the Year, but not everyone is celebrating the honor. Anthony "Top Dawg" Tiffith, the CEO of Lamar's label, Top Dawg Entertainment, has released a statement regarding the apparent "racial overtones" of the cover story. 

In the statement, Tiffith claims that "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 profile references the violent history of Compton rap and even, at one point, draws parallels between Tiffith and Suge Knight.
He continues, "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."
Tiffith concludes, "These lazy comparisons and offensive suggestions are something we won't tolerate. Our reputation, work ethic, and product is something that we guard with our lives."

GQ's editor-in-chief, Jim Nelson, released the following statement in response to TDE's decision to pull Kendrick Lamar from his performance at the party:

"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."

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