Common defends Snoop Dogg over controversial video

Common has defended rapper Snoop Dogg for holding a gun to a lookalike of U.S. President Donald Trump in his new video.

The Drop It Like It's Hot star caused controversy when he recently released the music video for Lavender, in which he points a gun at a clown dressed like Trump and when he fires it, a red flag with the word 'Bang' unfurls.

The footage has been blasted by politicians and Trump himself but Common has come to the defense of his fellow rapper, saying he's entitled to speak up.

"Hip hop always been about freedom of expression, that's one of the most powerful things," he told TMZ.com. "Hip hop has been like a voice for so many people.

"If you go think about the days of Public Enemy and you fast forward to Kendrick Lamar, hip hop artists have always been speaking up and saying what they feel... if you didn't like what was going on you speak (spoke) up and we're entitled to do that as people."

Snoop posted a video on Wednesday (15Mar17) in which he said he has been inundated with requests for interviews and quotes but he has "nothing to say".

On Wednesday, Trump tweeted about the video, claiming there would have been more of an uproar if Snoop had performed the act on a lookalike of his predecessor Barack Obama and concluded by demanding "Jail time!"

Rapper T.I. also came to the defense of Snoop by taking a screenshot of Trump's tweet and calling him a bunch of explicit names. He called Snoop a legend and told Trump to leave him alone and "continue to focus on dividing minorities, building barriers, alienating immigrants... like u been doin...."

Bow Wow also dragged Trump's wife Melania into the drama, by tweeting, “Ayo @realDonaldTrump shut your punk a*s up talking s**t about my uncle @SnoopDogg before we pimp your wife and make her work for us."