It's no secret that Lil Wayneis infatuated with skateboarding right now. Although he hasn't given up on rapping just yet—he released his Dedication 4 mixtape last month—Weezy seems more focused on grinding on his skateboard than grinding in the studio these days. And, that doesn't sit well with some skaters, who have been working at their craft for years now without getting the kind of recognition that Wayne is getting for skateboarding.
One of those skaters is Washington, D.C. native Darren Harper, the self-proclaimed "Obama of Skateboarding." He's a part of the Famous Stars and Straps skate team and has earned sponsorships from DGK Skateboards, Diamond Supply Co., Aerial 7, and more in the past. He also just launched the Good Bully Skate Co. And, in a new video for a rap song called "Rollin'," which features his younger brother D. Dot, he reveals his feelings on Wayne's skateboarding career.
"Now, take a look around, I got 'em posted up/There was a time black skaters wasn't dope enough," he raps. "I put the strong arm in it, had 'em open up/Now every rapper wanna act like he grinding trucks/So, I guess I gotta thank you/For stealing our shit, no thank you/Yeah, you makin' it aware, that's what fame do/I hope it's really in your heart, not just another angle."
So, is Harper—who goes by the name "D-Streets" when he raps—dissing Wayne in his verse? It sounds like he references him, and he also included the question "Lil Wayne Skating Diss or Not?" in the title of the YouTube video. So, we reached out to him earlier today to find out.
"I don't think the verse was a diss," he told Complex. "I feel Lil Wayne skating is a good and bad thing. It's good, because he's on a major platform that will allow other black youth who have shown interest in skateboarding to view it now no longer as a white thing. He is going to help motivate the hood…Now, the bad is it's a smack in the face to the skaters like myself who have been working so hard their entire careers to fulfill dreams that Wayne has accomplished overnight mainly because of his name when he really isn't a skater. Like my verse said, I just hope that [skateboarding] is really in his heart. We all know rap consists of constant trends in order to promote things or persons to gain revenue."
Don't worry, Darren. Something tells us Wayne isn't going to get rid of his skateboard anytime soon—whether we like it or not.
