Somehow, Waka Flocka Made it Out Alive

the music industry is a lie Waka Flocka recognizes early on and after the day he got shot he came up with a plan to escape and change his life for the better Waka is one of the rare examples of an artist who was able to see the highest of the highs in the music industry and it didn't come crashing down in an all-out downward spiral but make no mistake his life wasn't easy in the year 2000 his ten-year-old brother died because of a tiny tiny decision that Waka made ralik melfers was the younger brother of Waka whose real name is walk in their mother Deborah Annie forbade them from leaving the house after school until she got home from work but one dark day in Riverdale Georgia Raleigh promised a friend he would help him with some homework Waka encouraged Raleigh to sneak out and said he would cover for him if their mother came home Raleigh left and was hit by a drunk driver it was their neighbor who ran over Raleigh's head to make matters worse the neighbor was found not guilty of his crimes losing his brother in this manner had a detrimental effect on him for the next 10 years of his life Waka wasn't even sure who he really was I don't know who I was from eighth grade to being I'm talking about from 14 to 26 on luckily for Waka he had an amazing mother who not only worked in numerous jobs to support him and his brothers but would soon network with the right people and change the trajectory of both of their lives forever Deborah landed a position with the Georgia Department of Family and Children's Services it was here where she began to mingle with local artists such as Ludacris who would come visit the kids at the shelter as a way to give back to the community I started working at Fulton County and my whole life was just different and then here I meet ludicrous wow I met ludicrous but at that time Ludacris was not ludicrous he was Chris lover lover so it was Chris lover lover and poon Daddy and they used to bring all the artists that are here to the shelter for the children before any artist got big they would bring him near the station but Deborah was no stranger to the music industry her brother Bimi atney was an anr at Def Jam close friends with LL Cool J and worked on projects with Mariah Carey and 50 Cent a true OG in the New York hip hop scene a seen waka's mom never planned on being involved in in 2005 Deborah received a call asking if she could help a local rapper getting out of jail to get set up with some community service the rapper they were referring to was Gucci Mane breaking onto the scene in 2005 with his single icy Gucci was a bubbling artist in Atlanta but at the time he was far from my mainstream success after connecting with Gucci for his required community service Deborah saw the musical potential and decided to help out his career she had the knowledge the family connections and most importantly a spare room for Gucci to crash in rent free not long after moving in with Waka and his brothers Waka and Gucci would become very close their friendship would grow even stronger over the next year with Gucci officially signing to Deborah's newly established management company Miz entertainment in 2007 a company that would help launch the careers of artists like French Montana and Nicki Minaj Just years later Waka looked at Gucci as a brother and he wanted to help out with Gucci's rap career any way he could so I started right back so you know what I'm gonna be I'm gonna be your assistant bro right I'm gonna be your security I never knew these titles but this is what I was doing hey bro you can't even pick a bag up you're a star unfortunately Gucci couldn't help getting in trouble with the law and was constantly in and out of prison completely stunting the growth of his rap career and leaving Waka uncertain about his future not wanting his family to fail Walker decided to take matters into his own hands and get in the studio even though Gucci Mane straight up told him to his face he shouldn't be a rapper and that he was better off as a goon Waka didn't care he had a mission to make it big I'm also on a mission to tell you about today's sponsor case defy case Defy is the world's most popular Tech accessory brand known for their protective phone cases and numerous collaborations case defies ecoshock technology which is embedded in the impact series cases provides a 20 increased protection while also maintaining a slim and Sleek design the impact series cases are great for everyday protection providing up to 11 and a half feet of drop height in which we are going to put to the test right now now phone's working hard ground nothing not a scratch not a den casified partners with artists to bring you so many cool designs to choose from Nathan Bennett is one of my favorites all of his designs are clean and give off positivity if those aren't your style then there's so many more to choose from go to casetify.com patrickcc to get 15 off your order thanks case defy on January 14 2009 Walker released his debut mixtape titled salute me or shoot me 23 Songs of aggressive in your face trap music featuring the likes of Soulja Boy his older brother who the kid and averse from Gucci himself managed by his mother he would also join Gucci's First Independent label called so I see entertainment releasing numerous mixtapes in 2009 his buzz was growing quickly but his true breakthrough would come the following year with his debut studio album flockavelli this album had hit songs like oh let's do it which peaked at number 62 on the Billboard Hot 100 and no hands featuring Wale which peaked at number 13 an absolute smash success for a rapper who was only in the game for just over a year flockavel is an album that many people point to for inspiring a large part of the mainstream trap sound but before Waka could really enjoy this newfound Fame and money he was hit with a reality check like none other rapper Waka Flocka Flame shot robbed on the afternoon of January 19 2010 the 23 year old rapper was shot and robbed at a bubble bath car wash in Atlanta similar to many of the tragic killings we've seen in the rap game the robber targeted Waka for his jewelry fortunately for Waka though he made it out of this robbery alive with only one gunshot wound to the arm that day would end up being a major turning point for him sparking him to reflect and question this so-called glamorous rapper lifestyle like I feel like that was a lesson from God you know I mean because at the time I was just like the most evilest person on the planet like my mind was just devious you know what I'm saying I was just mowing all the crazy in life and I feel like God had to stop me because I had a whole year and a half of my life just in fast forward you know what I'm saying like right so at that point in my life I was slowed down I realized who who I am what I was and what I'm doing and when I got shot my little Wayne called me he ain't called me and said yo you okay you know what I'm saying that was Warner Brother guess what this man said yo can you record like what man they fought after I got shot I never my life translated because you owe you you money too you ain't no artist you you're a golden ticket into your ticket rub off and the color go away they gonna stick around as soon as your ass to them even feel like they can't make no money they ain't worried about you after recovering gaining a new outlook on life and having tons of success with his debut studio album everything appeared to be going great for Waka but behind the scenes cracks were starting to form a cautionary tale of why you should never mix business with family in May of 2010 Gucci Mane announced from jail that he was leaving his label so icy entertainment and cutting ties with Miss a entertainment no longer to be managed by waka's Mom allegedly mizey was booking Gucci for shows across the country without disclosing that he was headed to jail and also illegally selling Gucci Mane verses which resulted in several Federal lawsuits which led Gucci to saying the following I'm taking control of all my business properties and keeping the focus on my career my music and my artists all the pieces to the puzzle are finally in place and once I get home it's Gucci time Gmail would then become the president and CEO of Brick Squad 1017 records an imprint of Warner Records the label that Waka Flocka would sign to as well making him one of the first artists on Brick Squad although Waka was still managed by his mother this whole situation would kick-start the eventual demise of their friendship after riding the momentum of flockavelli into 2011 and releasing a collaborative mixtape with Gucci Mane called Ferrari Boys on August 9th of that year Walker would start his own label under 1017 records called Brick Squad Monopoly he was on top of the world he had another single in rotation Round of Applause featuring Drake and Waka was a mainstream star but just as he was reaching his Peak success he was hit with another tragedy waka's best friend and fellow 1017 rapper slim Duncan was shot and killed on December 16 2011 slim was at Star studios in Atlanta the whole 1017 family was there because Gucci Mane had a video shoot scheduled at some point slim got into a verbal altercation with young veto another ATL rapper which ended in video taking a shot at Slim's stomach he was rushed to the hospital and later died Waka tweeted wish it was me my right hand is gone Waka was devastated first he was shot now his best friend was taken out he blamed himself for the incident I did um how did you know Slim Duncan's death affect you I mean I'm sure it's still affecting you now but oh I'll accept it I don't accept it period keep his number in your phone and don't accept it can't accept do you feel like justice has been served being that you know the guy that did it I hope I hope he win he'll be free hope you get free straight up he better hope he doesn't I saw you put on Twitter you wish it was you like that's my that's my dog like I made him rap you know what I'm talking about if I was never made a rap man I'll imagine you know what I mean that's how you feel like yeah so you feel like if you hadn't made him rap he'd still be here yeah wow that's heavy man it's heavy to wear you can hear the pain and walk his voice he needed to restart his whole career his whole life at least he still had his brother Gucci Mane and that was enough for him to still want to pursue a rap career but as Waka continued to get more and more popular and began taking some of the spotlight away from Gucci tensions would rise and egos would Clash culminating in a public beef that would rip the two apart Waka flock of flames officially dropped off Brick Squad 1017. big guap says give me an offer for this disloyal dude this tweet from March 15 2013 would send shockwaves across the entire hip-hop scene a rep for Gucci claimed that the Tweet was the job of a hacker but Waka didn't buy it sparking Waka to respond with I'm the loyalist person you could ever see I took on a man's beef risked my life hung out the window risked my freedom I never backed in a corner to my knowledge it ain't nothing but jealousy also in that same month Waka would diss Gucci at a Dipset reunion show things got even more heated between the two when Gucci sued Waka Flocka and his mom in November of that year stating that Deborah stole jewelry from him failed to report tax information on her income misappropriated his assets withheld royalty payments and inflated costs and record label expenses Waka would clap back on Twitter but also made an appearance on The Breakfast Club to air out how he was feeling about the Fallout I wondered though you know what I mean I won't be out here looking like a bum I don't care how crazy you doing or I'll give you Jim off the roof well I'm good if I catch him it's going digital I don't want nothing I just want I just want to slap him a couple of times like a little brother the duo once referred to as the Batman and Robin of the Atlanta rap scene was now completely dismantled plus it didn't help that fans were taking Gucci's side since they all thought the only reason Waka was popular was because of Gucci's Fame and just when things couldn't seem to get any worse Waka was struck with another family tragedy rapper Waka Flocka Flame's younger brother KO red dies from a parent's self-delete on December 29 2013 Waka would lose another younger brother KO was an artist just like Waka trying to make a name for himself in the rap game the two of them had music together performed together and were extremely close there was a lot of pressure being the younger brother of Waka Flocka Flame and sadly KO was also losing his eyesight the Knight KO expired he had attempted to reach out to his big bro but now fallen back into his fast-paced lifestyle Waka did not answer the call making him wonder if anything would have been different if he had just stopped for a second and picked up the phone although the cocktail bags on this show would I call him back no answer [Music] he called you before he I saw people I don't know who else he called what that's what if I don't pick that call up but that's when I said like yo this rap this rap [ __ ] the loss of ko made Waka turn to getting high to numb the pain a slippery slope for anyone to fall down he lost two Blood Brothers he lost his best friend that he had considered a brother and had a falling out with Gucci who was basically his adopted brother Waka was losing everyone life was passing him by and he had lost sight of the things that truly matter he decided he needed to better himself he finally had enough reevaluate his life focus on being a role model instead of just a rapper then that's exactly what he did Waka was well aware at this point in his life how toxic and manipulative the music industry really was not only did he let himself get caught up in the lifestyle he was blatantly lied to from the very start by his label after signing for only fifty thousand dollars in 2010 Warner would constantly cover up how much revenue he was generating as soon as I signed a deal it's just all hell broke loose like the lady we've been lying from day one day one like when I tell y'all like I tell them like all right yo did I recoup yet they're like nah you ain't recoup I'm like I did not not recoup I got 400 shows a month yeah I mean every record I got was popping I'm like how did I not recoup it was acts like this that added salt to his wounds and confirmed to Waka that he was right to take his life in a different direction being a father figure learning financial literacy investing in businesses and pursuing other passions like sports and video games being his new priority after getting married to Tammy Rivera in 2014 Waka made a commitment to being a strong father figure in the life of her daughter Charlie the child that Tammy had when she was just a teenager although Charlie isn't his biological daughter that didn't matter the two built a special bond and Waka has been by her side ever since she was four years old and basically after 2014 he stopped caring about the music industry he never dropped another album he didn't care about any Fame he just wanted to better his life he also began focusing his time on suicide prevention and mental health awareness him and his mom started the no rip foundation in honor of his brother which helps grieving families by promoting responsible media reporting on deaths investing his time in mental health awareness also helped him come to terms with the loss of his brother KO tweeting this in 2020 you have no idea how it feels to want to delete your own life man my little brother took his own life man and I deal with this fact every birthday because his birthday is a day after mine this year I'm officially accepting the fact that he's in a better place because of his efforts Waka received an honorary doctorate in philanthropy and humanitarianism in New York although Waka did extremely well financially thanks to his rap career he wasn't the smartest with his money early on which to be fair not many rappers are however with his Newfound perspective on life he started taking financial literacy and business very seriously it's easy Once I you know once I learned the credit game it was over game was over when I know I had all the millions and I even have a credit card the dumbest I was like the dumbest person ever actually spent money on everything man please yeah please I'm going to open up Insurance put two three million of my insurance and borrow from that and put it back in get your credit right clean your credit up for me to y'all clean your credit up stop putting everything in your name create a business LLC put everything in your LLC and open up a c corporate if you don't know that you need to figure these out I'm telling you the names get to see corporate running LLC he's gonna make it even deeper go get a trust fund and run a Corp that runs the LLC you want to get even deeper on two trust funds for your business and your person to run that trust that runs all the business it can get deep on God he didn't totally stay out of entertainment though he was able to land a pretty successful reality show on WE TV called Waka and Tammy what the Flocka which definitely had its downsides but at least he was able to get money while spending time with his family we probably won't get another Waka Flocka album and if we're lucky maybe a single here and there but that's okay these days he spends his time playing old school video games building his farm feeding his cows investing in cryptocurrency philanthropy and living life to the fullest whenever he does speak or post on social media it's to try to get you to learn from him and try to better your life Waka didn't get stuck in the music industry trap he made millions of dollars for music but at the expense of losing loved ones most people would continue the rat race drugs partying and pursuing a career filled with depression and satisfying others for a dollar but Waka he quit and took his life into his own hands funny thing is he's richer now than he was before and he's happier so why would he ever go back to music

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Id: FqUceem3Uzw

Length: 17min 8sec (1028 seconds)

Published: Mon Feb 13 2023