Spice Explains Why She ‘Loves’ Chet Hanks And His Use Of Jamaican Patois

Queen of Dancehall and Love & Hip-Hop: Atlanta star Spice says she loves Chet Hanks and had plans to remix his controversial White Boy Summer song.

Her comments, which were made on The Wendy Williams Show on Friday, have been a subject of contention on the show’s YouTube channel as Dancehall fans sparred on the matter.

Since he released White Boy Summer and its accompanying video in April, Hanks has been criticized extensively, mainly by white American journalists, for its connotation, which some persons argued seemed inappropriate as it was re-elevating “white men to the center of the narrative”.

Others had posited that appropriating the term “Hot Girl Summer,” which was a slang coined by African-American rapper Megan Thee Stallion, was a means of unnecessarily elevating and ascribing supremacy to white men, given 2020’s amplification of the Black Lives Matter Movement.

Chet’s White Boy Summer did not find favor with many Caribbean people, particularly on Instagram, where many Jamaicans and their regional compatriots labeled him a “colonizer’ and a ‘culture vulture’, said his idea was in poor taste, especially in racially-charged America and said that he should be given no publicity.

But Spice, who appeared on The Wendy Williams Show to promote the Go Down Deh collab from her Ten album along with Shaggy, and Sean Paul, told Wendy that she adored him when asked what were her “thoughts on Chet Hanks’ Jamaican accent”

“I love him.  I do,” Spice said instantly.  “I actually was gonna remix his song.  White Boy Summer.  I was gonna do the Black Girl Summer,” as Shaggy and Sean Paul smiled sheepishly.

She then added: “Let me say this, a lot of times when people try fi talk Jamaican, a lot of people out there feel like its offensive.  We like it because it is like you are embracing our culture.  He loves Jamaica; he push Jamaica so we don’t have a problem with it.”

In mid-April, Spice was among many black women who cheered on Chet Hanx and his White Boy Summer track, even as the rapper was pelted with criticisms across Black America and elsewhere, for expropriating rapper Megan Thee Stallion’s Hot Girl Summer slang and using it to cut White Boy Summer.

In the song, Chet, who is the son of movie star Tom Hanks, proclaimed himself the “White Don Dadda”, also an expropriation of Dancehall veteran Super Cat’s moniker “Don Dadda”, immortalized in his song Don Dadda from his 1992 album of the same name.

Hanx’ accompanying music video for the song, which includes images of himself running around with the Jamaican flag, was described by NME magazine writer Nick Reilly, as “a bizarre display of cultural appropriation and gaudy excess”.

Anya L. Henry, a writer for The Harvard Crimson, criticized what she described as Chet’s bizarre “fixation on redefining whiteness, frequent use of African American Vernacular English and odd social media presence” and said his “disrespectful and inappropriate actions have, for many, made it incredibly hard to view White Boy Summer in a positive light”.

Naomi Fry, a reporter from The New Yorker Magazine, had also ripped into Chet, noting that his pronouncement of a “White Boy Sumer”, in the face of the sharp rise in violent white-supremacist actions, over the last few years, was highly irresponsible.

She also pointed out that a day before the release of Chet’s song, “a Texas judge had granted a temporary protective order to his black ex-girlfriend Kiana Parker, after she alleged that he had hurled racial slurs at her and had been physically abusive toward her between October 2020 and January this year.

Hanks, according to court documents, had grabbed Parker’s arm, broken her phone, threatened that he would “blow her brains out” as well as his own, and said that no one would believe her because she was just a “ghetto Black b-tch” and he was “Chet Hanks.”

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On Friday Spice’s comments about loving Chet Hanx, left many of her fans who viewed the interview on Wendy’s YouTube channel, highly polarized.

In one mini-debate, one fan, TheInfluenceofMany, said that “most Jamaicans do not find Chet’s mimicking Patois disturbing.

“I like the fact that Spice cleared that up. Most Jamaicans aren’t offended by people not being able to speak the Jamaican creole. They like hearing and teaching the creole. It’s funny how some folks try to take on other people’s problem especially when they don’t care. Smh! Big up Jamaica!!” she wrote.

She was immediately countered by Jenna Lud, who said Spice was genuflecting to white people.

“But some people sound ridiculous and it’s offensive! Spice has to say that because she needs her white fans but in reality it’s not cool!” Jenna said.

Also commenting was Vibe with Shai’ who added: “It’s not offensive it’s annoying sometimes tho…idk abt anybody else but to me saying “yeah mon” every two seconds is not how we talk.”

Another commenter, Reem Kenza said that it was African Americans who had found Chet’s actions offensive, when it was much ado about nothing.

“I love that Spice brought up this important point! Many of us in places such as Africa see cultural appreciation where Americans would see cultural appropriation, so it’s important that people who have such platforms continue to make these facts known so we can move from this US centric conversation especially on the internet,” she said.

However, an unconvinced Nicole M, countered that the expropriating of Black culture was a serious matter.

“Well we’ll wait till ppl steal what you birthed, get rich off of it and leave you penniless but claim they invented it. We’ll see how much your international kumbaya mindset lasts. I want that approach to work as well but ppl in US are bitter for a reason. Many groups hv fought hard to be acknowledged, respected and paid. It’s ok to point out ppl hijacking things and calling it their own— especially when they’re unwilling to cut the originators in on the spoils,” she said.

For her part, Nelle Nelle sought to point out what she said was double standards some Jamaicans were setting for Chet because of his race, versus Drake and other stars who were using Patois in their music.

“Dem a bawl cause him white but don’t have a problem with Drake’s pathetic patwah 🙄 Kodak Black NBA Youngboy & Nicki is supposed to be a Trini but spends all day and all night Ja-faking. So ppl complaining can rlly keep quiet with their race war bullshxt… they pick and choose. If Drake gets a pass everyone can get one,” she wrote.

She also added: “It’s okay for Africans like Burna Boy to copy us and make riches but it’s a problem for a fan to copy us just because they are white? 🤨🙄 I don’t have time for it. I don’t know who the man is and I haven’t heard the song. It will only be offensive if he is putting on a Jamaican accent and talking foolishness. But if he is just enjoying the culture I really don’t care.”

One American, mscardioqueen, was not in agreement with Spice’s assertions that Chet’s antics are loved by Jamaicans.

“Chet speaking patois means Jamaicans love it? Really? When I spoke patois in Jamaica a Jamaican woman laughed at me. Some Jamaicans don’t like it. So, I’m not convinced. I don’t speak patois in person. Anyway, loving the fact Spice [h]as a #1 song right now. So many choreographers are dancing to this song. Proud of her,” she noted.