DJ Drewski will no longer play any music that includes disses aimed at rival rappers.
The Hot 97 mainstay took to his Instagram Stories on Tuesday to make the announcement, saying he’s pulling the plug on “diss/gang” records.
“I’m not supporting no more diss/gang music!” he wrote. “If ya dissing each other in the songs, don’t even send it to me! I don’t care if the artist sends it, the label sends it, your big Homie sends it! I will not support or play anymore Diss/Gang records on the radio! We r losing too many young men and women to the streets!”
Drewski added, “If you make drill music, there are a lot of drill songs without dissing your opps or smoking your opps! Step up your pen game and creativity. No reason why every week someone is getting locked up or killed. I can’t change the world, but I can stop supporting the nonsense. I admit I’m a fan of the drill records and supported from the beginning. But it’s only getting worse. SMH.”
“I feel music has a super strong influence on our culture and streets,” Drewski told Complex after making the announcement. “So when we keep showcasing and promoting these records that are inciting violence it just adds fuel to the fire. When we make it cool on major platforms to go ‘shoot up the opps’ we are sending the wrong message.”
Drewski continued, “Radio DJs like myself are supporting it and record labels are putting money behind it and it’s just getting out of control. Every week another young man or woman is getting killed or going to jail. There will always be violence in the hood because of the way it’s structured but I won’t be the one to add to this broken system.”
When asked what constitutes a diss record, Drewski responded, “What makes it’s a Diss record is when you name an individual or specific gang in your lyrics insinuating you are looking to do harm to them. Even when you mention a deceased person and insinuate you are ‘smoking on your dead opps’ like that’s not cool. The genre is at a point it can grow and the artist making the music can level it up.”
Other people working in radio like Ebro Darden responded to Drewski’s announcement on social media.
Drewski’s decision to no longer play this music comes amid recent tragedy in the rap community. Brooklyn artist TDott Woo was fatally shot Tuesday afternoon in Canarsie, Brooklyn, near the intersection of East 98th Street and Avenue L. He was transported to Brookdale Hospital, where he was pronounced dead. Meanwhile, rising New York rapper Nas Blixky was reportedly shot on Monday.
