Black Thought Speaks On Aretha Franklin's Passing: "I Was Blessed To Have Been In Her Presence"

Photo Credit: Victoria Ford of Sneakshot Photography

Black Thought was recently in Detroit with The Roots for a performance alongside Royce da 5'9" and prior to the show, he spoke with The Detroit News about a number of topics including Aretha Franklin's recent passing.

READ: Aretha Franklin's Family Upset With "Offensive And Distasteful" Eulogy Delivered By Pastor

"I just feel like I was blessed to have been in her presence," Thought said. "She left a very rich legacy, and is truly a national treasure."

During the interview, the rapper also recalled a time where he and the rest of the band were interrogated in Barcelona.

"I recall one time in Barcelona. We were being randomly interrogated (by government authorities), and we told them we play everything," he said. "That was hard for them to believe. Classical, gospel...the answer was yes to all of that. And that's why people reach out to The Roots. We can include a little bit of everything."

In related news, Franklin's family released a statement addressing a controversial eulogy an Atlanta pastor delivered during the late singer’s funeral.

In Rev. Jasper Williams Jr.'s eulogy, the pastor described children being in a home without a father as "abortion after birth" and said black lives do not matter unless blacks stop killing each other. The remarks have been called distasteful and offensive in a statement from the Queen of Soul's family.

"He spoke for 50 minutes and at no time did he properly eulogize her," Vaughn Franklin, the late singer's nephew, said, according to CNN. Vaughn also said that Williams' eulogy "caught the entire family off guard," and that the family had not discussed what Williams would say in advance.

Vaughn said that Franklin never asked Williams to eulogize her. However, he was chosen because he has spoken at other family memorials in the past, including Franklin's father, minister and civil rights activist C.L. Franklin, 34 years ago.

During his eulogy, Williams spoke on the black lives matter movement, as well as said that black women cannot raise a boy to be a man, the latter of which was seen as disrespectful to Franklin, considering she was a single mother of four boys.

Source: The Detroit News