Flashing stacks of cash and other valuables on Instagram has become common practice among young rappers, but it can often lead to trouble. Jealousy, desperation and straight up hate can have disastrous outcomes.
On Thursday (February 3), Slim Thug shared an Instagram post illustrating the dangers of exposing cash online. On one side, a man is displaying a large amount of cash in a photo and in the other, that same man is getting brutalized on the ground as several other men try to steal his money. The OG Houston rapper captioned the post, “If ppl on IG who be capping go outside by their self.”
Jealousy is believed to have played a role in several high profile murders over the years. In February 2020, Brooklyn Drill rapper Pop Smoke was shot and killed at a home in the Hollywood Hills during what police called a botched robbery. Multiple people were arrested for the crime, two of whom were juveniles.
According to court testimony, the two teens were desperate to get their hands on Pop Smoke’s diamond-studded Rolex.The investigator said they had their eyes on Pop Smoke’s Cuban link chain but only managed to get the watch, which they then resold for a mere $2,000. But had Pop Smoke never accidentally posted his address on Instagram (and his expensive jewelry), he’d likely still be here today.
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More recently, social media embraced the “money challenge” in which people were expected to spell out words and phrases using cash then post it online. Fat Joe was one of the many who discouraged young rappers from participating in the challenge. Speaking on Instagram Live, the Terror Squad rapper said it was simply another form of self-snitching.
“These people, when they get caught, they ask themselves, ‘Damn man, how did [I get caught]?’” Joe said. “You told on yourself! You haven’t had a legit job in your life, you writing your name with mountains of money — fuck is wrong with you?! Nick Cannon said, ‘IRS is watching.’ Fucking right! They don’t gotta look far! In fact, all they gotta do is hashtag ‘money challenge.’ Who’s Loko32? Who’s JonJon43? Who’s TheOGPennyLoaf? N-gga, you gone!’”
2021 saw an unprecedented number of violent deaths in the rap community — from Young Dolph and Drakeo The Ruler to more regional acts such as Ohio’s Boog The Bandit and Sacramento’s Hot Boy Ju. Whether flossing their riches online was a direct cause isn’t known, but perhaps that should become a thing of the past.
