From Rhapsody’s Rhap Session with Mike:
On credibility in hip-hop and Rick Ross’ alleged past career as a prison guard
I’m not speaking relative to or in opposition of Rick Ross in this next statement, but I will say this: my father was an Atlanta police officer and my mother was a known drug trafficker, in addition to being a business owner and pretty smart, savvy black woman. And I’ve never hid either of those facts. I’m a man and I am contradictory elements to my past and my personality. I’m the same kid that sold dope on Martin Luther King [Drive], paid for a tutor with that dope money, and got himself into Morehouse College because he knew Martin Luther King Jr. went there. My story is the American story. It’s Joe Kennedy. A grandfather who ran moonshine so his children could be better educated. My mother did what she did so her child could have a better life. I’m from that, and that’s what I wanna present in all it’s beauty. I’ve always told my story in that way because I have integrity. I can’t answer in terms of why other rappers do it; I’m just gonna say I don’t lie to my audience. I just think the true stories, the ones with all of our complexities, make better movies and songs. I would’ve loved to hear a Port of Miami where a guy gets fired from his job as a C.O. and goes on to some dirt. But for everybody who’s judging him now, understand that his next album is called Deeper Than Rap. We are politicians; he can spin this into something bigger. Now that the truth is told, what good is gonna come out of the truth?
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