Dee-1, a New Orleans rap star, delivers a response to mention in Kendrick Lamar’s new song.
The 39-year-old educator joined Lecrae in responding to the viral track, “Untitled,” released about Lamar on September 11. Like Lamar and Lecrae, Dee-1 released his new track on Instagram. He shared the track with a photo of worn-out sneakers.
On “Untitled,” Kendrick says about Dee, “I want to be empathetic, my heart like Dee-1 / But I would—.”
Dee-1 titled the new song as “Call It Like It Is,” He raps, “Y’all done turned this culture trash, these so-called legends ain’t no legends / I don’t care if they sold millions, are you hearing their message? … The biggest gangsters in rap got blonde hair and blue eyes / We gettin’ pimped what y’all wanna do, guys?”
None of the three songs are available on streaming platforms yet.
The rap star’s new track follows his controversial comments about fellow New Orleans artist Lil Wayne not performing at the Super Bowl Halftime Show this year.
“This is why you should never love your city more than you love God,” he said in the clip. “So Kendrick Lamar shouted me out in his new song and honestly, it’s been life-changing already in the past 24 hours. That’s the elevation. At the same time comes the condemnation.”
He continued: “So now they got people – because they mad at my opinion at who should perform at the Super Bowl – so now they making diss tracks about me. They got people saying I’m canceled from the city. They got people saying I better not come back to the city. People I’m cool with making videos mad at what I’m standing on, when it’s the same thing I been standing on since y’all met me.
“People who I just went on their podcast and it was all friendship and love, now calling me a clout chaser and mad because we got a difference of opinion about who should perform at the Super Bowl. So the biggest rapper in the world is saluting me for my character. And at the same time, it’s people in my city trying to cancel me for my character.”
He concluded: “The same character that’s leading to my elevation is leading to my condemnation. Thankfully, I’m just gon’ keep being me, keep serving God. That’s what got me here. And Imma just be thankful for every part that comes along with this journey, no matter what it entails.”