Atlanta rapper T.I. recently appeared on Atlanta’s V103 to speak on Doe B and DJ Nando, two artists who were killed in the past month. He first spoke on Doe B’s “Why,” a record that features the Hustle Gang leader and is a song he says was initially set to appear on his upcoming studio album, Paperwork.
T.I. commented on the eeriness of “Why,” a song in which Doe B offers a “rest in peace” to those no longer with us at the start of the record before rapping, “I don’t know why they had to take my folks.”
“Doe actually gave me that record,” T.I. said. “We initially did it. I was holding it for my album. Just the subject matter and just how it felt listening to it after he had passed I felt that it was more appropriate for him for right now. It really—It seemed like he was speaking to us about his situation. I really haven’t heard anything as eerie as that since Machiavelli. You know what I’m saying? So, I felt that it was more than appropriate. And I refuse to let his dream die. I refuse to let his efficacy and his energy go to waste. We’ll continue to march and move forward in productivity in his honor.”
T.I. later expressed his belief that if Doe B was still alive he likely would have been a shoo-in for XXL magazine’s Freshman Class 2014, an annual list of up-and-coming rappers the magazine feels are ones to look out for in the coming year. The Southern wordsmith later spoke on Doe B’s hard work and declared it his responsibility to put the late rapper’s music out in “the way he would want it.”
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“I think that his effort and the time that he put into cultivating his craft, it separates him from anyone who could even possibly be considered on his level,” he said. “I think he was a shoe-in for the XXL Freshman cover. I think that was automatic. And anyone else who was on that cover with him I think he was above and beyond their skill set. No disrespect to whoever who gon’ be on the cover…I just feel like all that hard work and effort he put into it I feel like it’s my responsibility or our responsibility. We are now obligated to make sure that it’s properly presented to the world the way he would want it. You know what I mean?”
According to T.I., had the shooting at Montgomery, Alabama’s Centennial Hill Bar and Grill have not taken place on December 28, Doe B likely would have been on a plane headed to Miami that day or the next to work with T.I. and producer Pharrell Williams.
Doe B was one of three people killed during a shooting at an Alabama club in late December. So far two arrests have been made in the shooting, which also took the lives of 21-year-old Kimberle Johnson and 20-year-old Tim Hamilton.
In addition to Doe B, T.I. also spoke on another artist who recently lost their life. During his interview with DJ Greg Street, T.I. offered his condolences to the family of DJ Nando and commented on Nando’s death being a “devastating blow to the community.”
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“It seem like the reaper been getting it wrong for the past few weeks,” he said. “Another devastating blow to the community, man…It’s hard just to witness such a tragic loss. You know what I’m saying? Terrible.”
DJ Nando was shot and killed outside of his home in Morrow, Georgia. Authorities are still looking for a suspect in the shooting.
As a member of the Coalition DJ’s, DJ Nando was known for breaking a number of acts as a popular club deejay.
RELATED:T.I. Speaks At Doe B’s Funeral
