James Arthur has opened up over a Twitter row with rapper Micky Worthless in which he used a homophobic slur in a new interview with Music Week.
The slur was used in a diss track penned by Arthur as part of an on-going rap battle with Worthless. Now, Arthur has finally been able to fully address the issue and issue an apology for his use of language.
“The rap battle is my most disappointing moment,” Arthur told Music Week.
“I was devastated that anybody would think that I’m homophobic. It’s difficult to say, Oh, I’ve got loads of gay friends, because that’s such a cop-out, but I do have lots of gay friends. It was just an irresponsible word that I’d used in this rap battle and that’s the thing I’m most disappointed about. I’m only starting to get an opportunity to address it now. At the time I just needed to shut my face and get off Twitter. That misuse of langue can be really alienating to people and make people feel terrible, so I’m massively sorry for that.”
2016 has been a significant year for Arthur, having made a remarkable comeback following a few years out of the public eye since winning the X Factor in 2012.
His comeback single Say You Won’t Let Go topped the UK singles chart while his new record Back From The Edge looks set to debut at No.1 in the albums chart, according to midweek sales figures.
You can read our interview with Arthur in full here.
