From Nipsey Hussle, Pop Smoke and Young Dolph to King Von, Drakeo The Ruler and, most recently, Snootie Wild, Hip Hop has lost several beloved artists to street violence in the last three years alone, marking one of the culture’s most tragic and bloodiest periods.
According to veteran rap mogul Dame Dash, the blame for this rise in deadly rap beef lies with the algorithms behind social media and streaming platforms that peddle conflict, especially from the Black community.
“It’s an algorithm that needs to be stopped,” he said during a recent sit-down with sports analyst Shannon Sharpe. “If you like to look at trolling and beef and it pops up on your phone. The algorithms are what’s controlling us right now … It’s a program, it’s knowing how to trigger people and it’s profitable [from] our dysfunction.”
The Roc-A-Fella Records co-founder then offered a solution to the problem, placing the onus on both streaming giants like YouTube and individuals who use such platforms.
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“YouTube should stop paying when people put up beef,” he argued. “Instead of people paying attention to a negative algorithm, they should pay attention to a positive one. It’s just the program that we keep falling into … What needs to be profitable is our love and our unity, and that’s what has to be showcased. But no one shows that.”
The Harlem native added, “Family killing family instead of your real enemy is your real enemy tricking you to do that. And we’re aware of it, but we keep doing it. My rule of thumb is: I’m not hurting anybody with the same color skin as me, period.”
Remembering Those We Lost In 2021
Deadly rap beef is a currently hot topic in Dame Dash’s home state of New York, which has been plagued by a string of murders in 2022. Rising Brooklyn drill rapper Tdott Woo and Bronx native CHII WVTTZ were killed just days apart, while fellow up-and-comer Nas Blixky was reportedly shot in the head in January.
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The intensifying violence has caught the attention of New York City Mayor Eric Adams, who has echoed Dash’s thoughts by condemning social media companies for promoting guns and violence. More controversially, he also appeared to blame drill rap for the murders.
However, Adams later met with a group of New York rappers including Maino, Fivio Foreign and B-Lovee to open up a dialogue about the city’s drill scene. The mayor announced he “will be rolling out something in the next days to deal with this issue,” although what that is exactly has yet to be revealed.
