By Nolan Strong
DJ Drama has issued a detailed response to an upcoming article in XXL magazine in which Atlanta rapper Young Jeezy refers to the DJ as a “b**ch” who changed up after achieving success.
“After reading Jeezy's unprovoked insults in that XXL article, it seems like the guy's pretty emotional if you ask me,” DJ Drama told AllHipHop.com.
“Maybe he's dealing wit some things in his career, I don't know. He did an interview a few months back with Elliot Wilson on RapRadar.com and said the total opposite! He was talkin bout, ‘Dram’s the homie and we may work together again,’etc. Now I've never spoken on our issues because I believe grown man business is just that, and running to the media to whine is not my thing.”
Young Jeezy’s CTE and members of DJ Drama’s Aphilliates crew have engaged in an ongoing feud, after years of a successful partnership that helped launch the careers of both artists.
Jeezy accused DJ Drama of charging him $20,000 to create a mixtape for a new CTE artist, after he contributed his verse on “5000 Ones” from DJ Drama’s 2007 major label debut Gangsta Grillz, at no cost.
“He's a cornball,” Young Jeezy told XXL magazine. “You made millions off my mixtapes, to the point where the f*ckin' feds scooped you up for bootlegging. I never even made the money he made off of Trap or Die or Tha Streets Iz Watchin, because they were selling and distributing them and making money...I'm not hating. But we will never do a mixtape together.”
Drama adamantly denied charging Young Jeezy $20,000 to produce a Gangsta Grillz mixtape.
"His statement about me trying to charge him $20k for a mixtape is a bold face lie," DJ Drama told AllHipHop.com. "I never charged Jeezy for nothing. I did two Slick Pulla tapes (4th Ward Day, Election Day) for free and a Bloodraw tape (The Indictment Papers) for free. Anything Jeezy ever needed from me, I did without hesitation. He doesn't want to deal with the real reason why he's mad."
Young Jeezy and DJ Drama’s respective crews have clashed at events over the past two years, including an altercation at the 2008 Dirty Awards and another incident at a screening for the Notorious B.I.G. bio-pic Notorious.
While Jeezy claims the feud started when Drama “didn't want to help nobody,” other sources stated the beef stemmed from a Gangsta Grillz mixtape DJ Drama produced with Jeezy’s nemesis, Gucci Mane.
Drama confirmed that the root of his feud with Young Jeezy is a result of the Gucci Mane feud, which at its height, saw Gucci Mane charged with and acquitted of murder in 2006.
“The tension between us actually started when I deejayed his USDA release party (for free) and I played a Gucci Mane record. He stormed out of his own party and didn't speak to me for about 2-3 months,” DJ Drama revealed. “Me being a DJ, I was just rockin' the crowd and giving the people what they had been requesting. I don't get involved in that other stuff.”
DJ Drama stated that he would continue to ignore Young Jeezy’s comments to the media about their issues.
And while Young Jeezy accused DJ Drama of not being as loyal friend in the upcoming XXL interview, the popular DJ questioned Young Jeezy’s standing as a true friend.
“Why all the tough talk to the DJ who doesn't say nothin to him but he doesn't say nothin tough to the rappers that diss him like Pimp C?” DJ Drama stated. “I was shocked by his cowardly attempt to try to slander my name in the upcoming XXL article. And what's the most shocking is to see him side with the Feds in my arrest! Wow, since when did that become gangster?!? I'm chillin, never said nothin' negative about dude. Check his character...or better yet, ask those around him that he's done dirty. Ask the folks who ain't with him anymore, like Coach K, Twin, his former security Big Sam, or my homie Roccett.”