Jadakiss shares his thoughts on the topic of violence within rap, and says that although the artists themselves usually get the blame, the record labels are also responsible.
Jadakiss Says Violence Against Rappers ‘Stops Him’
The issue came up when Jadakiss recently appeared on the I am an Athlete podcast. After talking about how the lives of artists such as Pop Smoke, Takeoff, and PnB Rock were cut short, Jadakiss said the issue is “sick” and “reprehensible.”
“He’s sick. It is a shame to see some of these young children losing their lives because of some of this stuff. I think it is impossible to avoid it. “
He was then asked to give “one piece of advice to this generation” of rappers, and he simply said not to “get caught up in being lit,” because they have to “think about the future.”
“Don’t get caught when you get fired. You have to think about the future. Think about when you became a family. Think about your children, think about your mother. Think about your employees, think about your team. Think about yourself and everything you affect when it goes wrong.”
He claims some of the blame lies with record labels
However, co-host Brandon Marshall went on to explain how it might be better for some artists to “lean into the violence” because of communication and numbers.
In response, Jadakiss spoke about how record labels deserve to be responsible for the prevalence of violent rap lyrics, because they “thrive with nonsense” that is brought into the studio.
“Record labels thrive on nonsense. Someone went out, did something stupid, recorded a song about it, and was able to get a lot of streams, and that became a thing with the whole Drill [scene]. They actually go out, get active and do stuff and then go into the studio and make a song about what they did.”
“Record labels thrive on nonsense. … They issue life insurance on these young children now. They force you to do some dumb sh*t, so they can profit after you die.” 😳
– Jadakiss on today’s music business
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– I AM ATHLETE (@IAMATHLETEpod) March 2, 2023
He went on to say that this content “should be squashed as soon as possible [gets] created.”
“That should be nipped in the bud as soon as it’s formed. But no one goes to these labels saying they are wrong for this. “
So, instead of “just blaming the kids,” Jadakiss said that the labels that sign these artists should also take some of the heat.
“We just blame the children. So, like my brother Styles [P] he said, he doesn’t like to blame these young artists because the radio stations make them the best songs on the playlist. And the flyers are still being signed. “
Jadakiss puts up flyers issuing life insurance policies on artists
After making these comments, Jadakiss went on to describe how “labels [are] issuing life insurance policies on these young children now.”
If true, he went so far as to say, “They’re tricking you into doing something dumb so they can benefit after you die.”
You can watch the interview below.
What do you think of the rapper’s statement?
