Rapper Busta Rhymes has hit back at critics of his song ARAB MONEY, insisting he never set out to "disrespect" anyone of Middle Eastern descent.
The Touch It hitmaker, real name Trevor Smith, has come under fire for the song's chosen title, with some accusing him of racism.
But Rhymes is adamant he meant no harm in choosing the track's name and is urging his detractors to listen to the lyrics - because it actually champions Arab culture.
He says, "Sometimes, people like to twist things. We ain't mockin' the culture. We ain't tryin' to be disrespectful. Ain't no racism going on right here.
"If you listen to the song, you see that we are actually acknowledging the fact that the Arabian culture, a middle East culture is one of the few cultures, that value passing down hard work riches that's been built amongst the family.
"It would be nice if a lot of other cultures did the same thing. Feel me? So, I would like for it to be like that in my culture where we could build things to the point where we got so much that we don't need to rely on other cultures to contribute majorly in a financial way, or in whatever other way, to societies, communities or whatever governments we might live in. So, we are actually biggin' up the culture. At the end of the day, I want to be like that. I think a lot of us want to be like that."