(AllHipHop News) 

Fat Joe just replied to growing criticism over some lyrics he dropped about the “Wuhan Virus” on a new track from Benny The Butcher and Harry Fraud’s new album.

Fat Joe found himself in a minor controversy on Friday when Benny the Butcher and Harry Fraud released their opus, The Plugs I Met 2 (March 19th). 

Fans were happy with the offering from Benny and Harry, but the song “Talkin Back” featuring Fat Joe drew widespread condemnation, for what many perceived was “anti-Asian” rhetoric. 

On “Talkin Back” Fat Joe spits: 

“Track me in and out of court – Harvey Weinstein/Threw that white up in the pot gave em pipe dreams/Watch it spread like the Wuhan virus/Do em dirty for the low like Wu-Tang ‘Sirus” 

Some people were deeply offended by the verse, which many claimed was an insult to Asian people in the wake of the murders of eight people – six of them Asian women – at the hands of a white terrorist. 

Fat Joe denied he was being offensive and said his verse was recorded last year when some media outlets were calling COVID-19 the “Wuhan Virus.”

“I’ll adress the Benny verse i did that verse a year ago when the news was calling it the wuhan virus before they called it COVID i support and love all my asian brothers and sisters never hate,” Fat Joe said. 

A number of Fat Joe’s fans replied to his statement to support him, but he still has some detractors who are still not pleased. 

The fact is, crimes against Asian-Americans have increased since the outbreak of the Coronavirus. The number of crimes reported to the cops increased almost 150% between 2019-2020. 

In the past year, there were over 3,800 reports of crimes committed against Asian men and women in the past year.