Jadakiss is sharing his thoughts on the subject of violence within rap, and he says that, while the artists themselves typically get the blame, the record labels bear some responsibility as well.
Jadakiss Says The Violence Against Rappers Is ‘Preventable’
The matter came up during Jadakiss’ recent appearance on the I Am Athlete podcast. After speaking on how the lives of artists like Pop Smoke, Takeoff, and PnB Rock were violently cut short, Jadakiss remarked that the matter is “sickening” and “preventable.”
“It’s sickening. It’s disgusting to see some of these young kids losing their lives over some of this stuff. I think it’s preventable.”
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He was then implored to deliver “one bit of advice to this generation” of rappers, and he simply said to not “get caught up in being lit,” as they’ve “gotta think about the future.”
“Don’t get caught up in being lit. You’ve gotta think about the future. Think about when you got’ be a family man. Think about your kids, think about your mom. Think about your staff, think about your crew. Think about yourself and everything you affect when it goes all wrong.”
He Asserts That Record Labels Bear Some Of The Blame
However, co-host Brandon Marshall proceeded to bring up how some artists may find it better to “lean into the violence” for the sake of engagement and numbers.
In response, Jadakiss spoke on how record labels deserve to be held responsible for the prevalence of violent rap lyrics, as they’re “being successful off nonsense” that gets brought into the studio.
“Record labels are being successful off nonsense. Somebody went out, did something stupid, recorded a song about it, and it was able to get a lot of streams, and that became a thing with the whole Drill [scene]. They actually going out, gettin’ active and doin’ stuff and then go into the studio and make a song about what they just did.”
“Record labels are being successful off nonsense. … They puttin’ out life insurance on these young kids now. They gambling on you to do some dumb sh*t, so they can profit after you die.” 😳
– Jadakiss on today's music industry
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— I AM ATHLETE (@IAMATHLETEpod) March 2, 2023
He went on to note that this content “should get nipped in the bud as soon as it [gets] created.”
“That should get nipped in the bud as soon as it got created. But nobody’s going to these labels saying they wrong for this.”
So, rather than “just blaming the kids,” Jadakiss said that the labels signing these artists should take some of the heat, too.
“We just blaming it on the kids. So, like my brother Styles [P] said, he don’t like to just put all the blame on these young artists because the radio stations are making them the top songs of the playlist. And the labels are still signing them.”
Jadakiss Brings Up Labels Taking Life Insurance Policies Out On Artists
After making these comments, Jadakiss went on to bring up how “labels [are] puttin’ out life insurance policies on these young kids now.”
If fact, he went as far as to say, “They gamblin’ on you to do something dumb so they can profit after you die.”
You can watch the interview down below.
What do you think about the rapper’s commentary?
