Waka Flocka Flame says his near-death experience turned out to be a huge blessing.
During an interview on the Club Shay Shay podcast, the 36-year-old reflected on his shooting in Fulton County, Georgia over a decade ago. The incident reportedly went down in the afternoon of Jan. 19, 2010 at the Bubble Bath Car Wash in Atlanta, where Waka—born Juaquin Malphurs—was confronted by an armed man. According to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, the assailant allegedly demanded Waka hand over his jewelry before a physical altercation ensued. The gunman shot the rapper before making off with multiple pieces of jewelry. Waka was immediately transported to the hospital with a gunshot wound to the arm.
He said the doctors confirmed he was only shot once, but the bullet managed to puncture his arm, lung, rib, and shoulder.
Nearly 13 years after the incident, Waka revealed he was grateful for the incident, saying it completely changed his life trajectory and put him on a better path.
“Yeah, I still go to the car wash. Yeah, I know what happened, definitely, 100 percent,” Flocka told host Shannon Sharpe. “I thank God for that, too. That was a blessing, because that weekend, I was making like a quarter million [dollars]. I was going to buy some bricks and some pounds. That’s God that stopped me. I thank God, because I was arrogant as fuck. … That Waka died that day, too.”
Waka admitted the shooting turned him “dark” and that he initially wanted to get revenge on the man, who made off with a chain and bracelet. He told Sharpe he didn’t want to give up the pieces, putting up a fight before he was shot.
“He’s gotta kill me for it,” Waka recalled thinking during the scuffle. “Again, back then, how do you think like that? You think, ‘This is my life.’ You’re ignorant.”
He continued, “The guy that shot me, I never wanted to kill him, either. I had every opportunity in the world to do it. But why kill him? He made me. I’m a fucking millionaire.”
Waka then told Sharpe the man never apologized for the attack, but insisted he’s not concerned. “I deserved that bullet, man. I’m telling you, I deserved that motherfucker,” he explained. “The shit I know today. I can’t be mad at nobody cause it helped create who I am today.”
You can check out Waka’s full comments above.
The rapper touched on the shooting in a 2014 appearance on Complex’s The Combat Jack Show. He recalled thinking his life was over, but was mostly concerned about how the incident would get reported.
“This shit sound lame: First thing I thought about was, ‘If I die, I want everybody to know the real story. I ain’t go down like a damn coward.' … I thanked [the gunman]. He made me more sharper,” he said. “Like, you don’t even know the kind of guy you created.”
