Fivio Foreign is defending his craft. On Tuesday, February 8th, TMZ caught up with the "Panicking" rapper to get his thoughts on what the New York Police Department has been saying about the drill rap scene lately.
According to authorities, the sub-genre is "creating a divide between many up-and-coming rappers." Deputy Chief Joseph Gulotta told the New York Daily News, "I think sometimes rap and the lyrics ignite [and] cause some issues. But I don't think that's the underlying motive at the end of the day."
Reports reveal that, while murder in New York is down by 13%, shootings in the city are up by almost 30%, and the NYPD are pinning drill rappers as part of the cause. "Sometimes the harsh lyrics help police to piece these crimes together," Gulotta explained.
Earlier this week, Fivio dropped by The Palm in his hometown to attend some meetings regarding "the future of drill music on the airwaves," according to TMZ. The 31-year-old shared that things inside went well and that he and his team are "doing everything positive."
"This the drill community, and I know like, the police and everybody be looking at n*ggas like n*ggas is starting trouble, but n*ggas ain't really starting trouble," the 800 BC artist told the camera. "They tryna feed they kids."
"They tryna take away the drill music off the radio, they tryna stop it from being on the radio. And we having meetings with everybody, we tryna let them know, it's not the music that's killing people. It's the music that's helping n*ggas from the hood get out the hood. You feel me? So, we need that. You take that from us, n*ggas is gonna be in the hood, killing each other."
Elsewhere in the conversation, Fivio gave his thoughts on a potential new law that would allow rappers to be prosecuted using their lyrics – check it out below.
