DaBaby’s rant about HIV/ AIDS scandal stemming from his now-infamous Rolling Loud performance last month is the headline that keeps on giving, and almost everyone has something to say. While many critics online have called for the cancellation of the “ROCKSTAR” rapper, those in the hip-hop community strongly believe that “canceling” the star isn’t an appropriate course of action.
During an appearance on Power 105’s “The Breakfast Club” following his epic Verzuz battle against Dipset, Styles P of the New York rap collective The Lox said that if people truly cared about mental health, seeing DaBaby canceled — a social media term which describes the act of no longer supporting a public figure in their respective field — shouldn’t be the first option.
“If you gonna be on cancel culture, you can’t be with mental health culture either,” the Yonkers native began. “Who trained DaBaby to say, ‘Aight, you in this industry now, this is how it’s gonna go? ’Cause I’m pretty sure he’s been around plenty of gay people. He has, he’s in the industry. He’s been styled by them. He’s been dressed by them. He’s done deals.”
Similarly to what rapper 50 Cent — who recently stepped up to mentor the 29-year-old — said during an interview on E!’s “Nightly Pop,” Styles P believes a lot of the controversy DaBaby has found himself in is due to a lack of artist development and media training.
“But no one’s speaking up on his behalf saying, all right. Not to say I’m speaking up on his behalf, I’m saying he did something wrong. But who developed him? To say, ‘Young man, you’re getting multiple millions now. When you’re around corporate, this is how it goes,’” the “Good Times” emcee explained. “Nobody’s teaching him. Then you wanna cancel him. ’Cause when you say something or do something out of line to the world, in front of the world, that’s kind of a mental health issue. Not saying you are all the way out there. You might have snapped for a minute. But you just can’t keep canceling everybody and saying you concerned about mental health and not developing them.”
Styles P also said that when an artist is canceled they aren’t the only ones feeling the consequences. “Here’s what’s really f-cked up about it, you ain’t just canceling him, you’re canceling his kids, his baby moms, his team, his security,” he said. “I’m not saying nobody deserves to get canceled. I’m just saying when it’s kids, you gotta start thinking about their mental situation.”
As previously reported, DaBaby felt the repercussions of his disparaging comments he made at the Florida festival. As result, the rapper was dropped from several upcoming festivals, including KS 107.5 Summer Jam, Parklife, and iHeartRadio Music Festival.
Check out the full interview down below, DaBaby starts around the 50-minute mark.
