Hip-Hop vet Jim Jones is standing firm on his comment that “being a rapper is more dangerous than being a solider.” The 2020 statement actually sparked a feud between Jones and a war veteran who was upset with his comparison.
In an interview with HipHopDX, Jones said that he still believes in those sentiments, especially following the June 22nd shooting of the 21-year-old rapper Lil Tjay.
“I stand on it,” Jones told DX. “We have more rappers getting killed than we have weeks in the year. Sh*t, my prayers go out to Lil Tjay who just got shot up the other day and I don’t even know his condition but, you know, it’s terrible out there. Every day they talk about a different rapper that just got shot or was involved in a shooting or something like that.”
He continued with, “So yeah, I stand on what I said. Being a rapper in today’s society is definitely the most dangerous job in the world. You have a 50 percent chance of making it as a rapper and making it alive as a rapper is what it means. It’s one for one, so you take that how you want to take it.”
Lil Tjay was shot at a Chipotle restaurant in Edgewater, New Jersey, and was immediately rushed into emergency surgery at a nearby hospital. Rumors quickly began swarming on social media, alluding to the “Pop Out” rapper being paralyzed from the waist down. But sources have debunked those rumors since then.
Jones went on to share the reasoning behind the killings of late rappers Pop Smoke, Nipsey Hussle, and Young Dolph. He says there is a lot of money to be made as a rapper, and frankly, everyone isn’t going to support a rapper’s success.
“I don’t want nobody to ever get that twisted,” Jones said. “Rap and music make a lot of money. Matter of fact, these rappers couldn’t get to the other money that they’re making if they didn’t have the music that they have. Nobody would give a fuck about them if they didn’t have some music that the people loved, so you gotta think about that.”
Prayers are up for Lil Tjay as he recovers from his injuries.