Dee-1 & Rick Ross: Hip-Hop’s David vs. Goliath

By Robert Holloway

Recently, Dee-1 returned to the world-famous Sirius satellite radio show, “Sway In The Morning” and ruffled mega-rap star feathers. He blatantly addresses an underlying issue in the hip-hop community. He mentions Rick Ross, Meek Mill, and Jim Jones and says they all can do better with their music content.

Though Dee-1 chose these few names and spoke in love, there are tons more artists profiting off “poison” in their music. For far too long the hip-hop industry has heavily promoted music that’s filled with violence, glorifies murder, and promotes drug usage and selling, all while claiming entertainment. Dee-1 also mentions how he had a “come to Jesus moment” while mourning the death of his best friend.

“You’re listening to music that’s glorifying the same stuff that just happened to my best friend.”

Rick Ross responded by claiming Dee-1 was clout chasing by mentioning these rappers’ names to go viral. He also claimed that Dee-1 can’t speak on this issue, because he isn’t active in his community. Like most people following the online dialogue between both parties, it’s fair to say that Ross never addressed the obvious issue at hand. The songs they write and rap are damaging to the ears that listen to them. Songs that promote death come with a price in the natural and spiritual realm. Clearly, Rick Ross wasn’t familiar with Dee-1. He didn’t do his homework on how active Dee has been as an educator. The rapper has even been serving impoverished communities for years.

Over the years I have watched footage of Hip-Hip Summit addressing certain rap beefs and exposing hidden agendas throughout the hip-hop industry. Artist-activists like Chuck D and Krs-One are known for leading these types of conversations quite often. Today, Dee-1 gets a major salute for speaking out on a megaphone of a platform while holding the attention of many around the world. Though he seeks no glory for his stone-throwing, as a community we send gratitude your way!

Lastly, can we say this was very strategic on Dee-1’s behalf? Did he use righteous judgment or the right approach as a believer? Should he have just hit these rappers’ staff or DM them personally? In summary, I hope this sparks a healthy conversation in the entire hip-hop community with the aim of defeating this Goliath of an issue in hip-hop.

What do you think of this discussion by Dee-1?