T.I. Says He Understands Why Mountain Dew Dropped Lil Wayne

Photo Credit: @troubleman31 Instagram
Photo Credit: @troubleman31 Instagram

By: Amanda Anderson-Niles

Lil Wayne and Rick Ross’ recent terminated endorsement deals have caused many of their fellow rappers to take a close look at themselves and take notice at how their lyrics could cost them millions of dollars. In particular, Lil Wayne getting dumped by Mountain Dew for not issuing out a proper apology to Emmett Till’s family over his choice to use disrespectful lyrics regarding Till’s murder in the remix to Future’s “Karate Chop,” has caused so much outrage in the African-American community that it now forces rappers to question how far they should go in their music. The Till family has made it clear that they hope to spread awareness and force rappers to start taking more responsibility for what they say on wax, however, a lot of Lil Wayne’s peers feel he didn’t do anything wrong. T.I. thinks a little differently. Although he considers Weezy as a close friend and he knows he didn’t mean to offend Emmett Till’s family, he says rappers have to be careful about how they are representing the companies they have signed up to endorse. In a recent interview with Hoodrich Radio, he says:

“Endorsements come from corporations. Corporations, that’s outside dollars. You know what I’m saying? That’s money that you would not normally be making if you were not associated with this brand. So if you’re going to be associated with this brand, you’re going to have to be associated with this brand and have them, you know, be associated with pride in whatever it is you do. So, it’s kind of like you got to be mindful of the things you say if you choose to take in money from outside sources. But me knowing [Lil Wayne], I know [he] ain’t mean no harm in what he said. He was just kicking flav. You got to really be in our life and of our lifestyle to understand how we can kinda unplug and — be on our own sh*t sometimes.”

9 comments

    1. Exactly! Trying to straddle the fence on this subject is silly. Many rappers need to respect history and their elders a bit more in their music.

  1. Had Lil Wayne had respect for his own culture, he would have never disrespected Emmett Till. He’s a disgusting human being.

  2. Kudos to TI for being honest and understanding that you can’t be a fool and keep your endorsements.

    1. Right now, all rappers are going to struggle to get endorsement deals after this foolishness.

  3. T.I. needs to do a better job checking his partna. In fact most of this generation’s rappers need to be checked. Siding with Weezy and Rick Ross. This madness needs to stop.

Leave a comment

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

YOU MAY LIKE

Discover more from Urban Belle Magazine

Subscribe now to keep reading and get access to the full archive.

Continue reading