Lil Wayne,
Lil Wayne has been active in the music industry since 1995
when he was barely a teenager,
but not much is known about his specific gang affiliation.
Of course, there are speculations and rumors
and even reports that he is associated with the bloods,
though no actual group has been cited as his main affiliation.
However, in 2014,
a video was released online that shows an alleged Crips member confronting Lil Wayne.
A confrontation doesn’t really mean anything, though,
so it kept everyone wondering until a couple of years later
when more concrete evidence came straight from the horse’s mouth.
In 2016, a Dateline interviewer apparently egged him on
with invasive questions about his controversial rhymes and drug use.
When his daughter was brought into the conversation,
Wayne pulled out a red bandana from his pocket and said he was
“connected to this flag right here.
I’m connected.
I’m a gangbanger, I’m connected.”
So Lil Wayne? Definitely in a gang.
Drake
To begin with, Drake is from Canada,
which isn’t the most notorious gang hub,
so it’s not really a surprise to learn that he isn’t affiliated with any gangs.
Drake doesn’t necessarily claim to be a hardcore gangster anyway
but being a part of the hip-hop and rap scene
kind of implies that you are a bit hardcore.
But Drake just isn’t.
First of all, his real first name Aubrey, not Drake.
And while he comes from a musical family,
that music is more rooted in the twang of country than the rhymes of hip hop.
His father was a drummer for Jerry Lee Lewis,
and his mother was a Jewish English teacher-slash-florist.
Lots of gang members come from respectable households like this though,
but Drake was also a Canadian teen heartthrob as an actor in Degrassi:
The Next Generation.
Being an actor hardly leaves time (or desire) to join up with a street gang,
and he was probably making enough money on the show
that there wasn’t really any reason to join anyway.
Now, while Drake has friendships and connections in the rap world,
he’s hardly a gangster himself.
Instead, he stands as one of the most recognizable “nice guys” in the industry.
Cardi B
One of the most notorious female rappers in the industry,
Cardi B’s popularity in music and social media
has garnered her the attention of fans and haters alike.
She has famously revealed that she worked as a stripper during her early twenties in New York,
but even that wasn’t enough to deter her audience.
Her rap origins lie closer to her gang affiliation than to her exotic dancing.
When she was just 16,
the rapper joined the bloods,
and while she tells fans that she “doesn’t encourage joining a gang”
it’s clear that she still holds tight to her associated gang.
Her first two mixtapes were called Gangsta Bitch Music Volumes 1 and 2.
Plus, her music videos often feature the color red quite a bit,
she wore a massive red gown to the Met Gala,
and she even wore a red nurse’s costume for Halloween.
Gang loyalties die hard in the rap world.
Lil Uzi Vert
Known for his rapid-fire lyricism and flow,
Lil Uzi Vert was born Symere Woods in 1994 in North Philadelphia.
Growing up, he listened to a bit of hip hop from Wiz Khalifa and Meek Mill,
but his true tastes ran towards Marilyn Manson, Paramore,
Smash Mouth, and My Chemical Romance.
He also had a pretty normal childhood
and stated that as a young teen he was “a regular kid and didn’t really wanna rap.”
But he was sucked into it with a friend and created a rap group called Steaktown,
which broke up when he was 17.
He soon dropped out of school and quit a job he had had for only four days.
He was then kicked out of his home by his mother.
Now, this is the point in a rapper’s story when they usually join up with a gang,
but Lil Uzi Vert was different.
His biggest moment of rebellion led to him getting a face tattoo.
It wasn’t a teardrop or a gang symbol or anything suspicious.
Instead, it was just the word “faith”.
So this rapper? No gang affiliation for him.
Lil Durk
With his father locked up in prison when he was only 7 months old,
Durk Banks, or Lil Durk,
was dealing with the pressures of daily life early on.
He recalls times in his childhood where he didn’t even have enough food in the house.
In an attempt to bring in some cash to the house,
he set up a Myspace and YouTube channel to share his music.
His fanbase grew rapidly and he started to take his career more seriously,
especially after becoming a father at 17.
At that point,
he decided to drop out of school during his senior year with the specific goal of joining a gang.
He joined up with the Black Disciples of Chicago
and immediately began getting in trouble with the law.
He was hit with gun charges in 2011 and 2013
after he had already begun rapping as a fulltime career.
These days, he continues to get into feuds with rival gang members and rappers,
so it’s clear his career hasn’t gotten in the way of his affiliations.
DaBaby
Jonathan Kirk, born in 1991,
was raised in Ohio and North Carolina.
Not a whole lot is known about his family life,
which probably means it was pretty average.
The rapper grew up listening to Eminem, 50 Cent, and Lil Wayne,
and successfully graduated high school in 2010,
and even went to the University of North Carolina At Greensboro.
Now, he only did two years there,
saying he only went because his parents wanted him to, but he still went.
Keeping himself tied up with school and extracurricular activities
seemed to work at keeping him off the streets during an age
when kids are tempted to join up with gangs as a way of having a community.
Instead, his supportive family and good education
led him to musical success without all the street nonsense.
NLE Choppa
NLE Choppa is most known for his breakout single “Shotta Flow,”
which eventually went platinum.
And as one of the youngest rappers in the game today,
the 17-year-old has made a big impact with his unique musical style
that is described as melodic and heavy-hitting.
He started freestyling at the age of 14 and by 15 he was taking his music to another level.
But what about his personal life?
We don’t know much but at one point
he served time in juvie for an unspecified charge and length of time.
He has since claimed that his time there inspired him to change his life.
The implication is that he had something he needed to change it from,
and while he hasn’t come out publicly to declare an affiliation to any gang,
he has stated that most of his friends are Crips
and it’s widely understood that he does have close ties to the infamous gang.
Well, that’s all for today!
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