Image via Complex Original
In a world of YOLO, regrets are verboten. Thinking twice and showing concern for future consequences is shameful. Dwelling on the past will only slow you down. Emotions like guilt or sorrow are to be defeated and destroyed, or simply ignored. So shouting the motto, people drink and drive, rap about rape and choose not to work with Kanye West. Hip-hop, perhaps more YOLO than any other corner of the world, is like this to the utmost. No matter what they do, no matter they've done, rappers rarely, if ever, admit to any regret whatsoever. Just ask Pusha T.
But surely, feelings of sadness, disappointment and defeat must crop up sometimes. It’s only human nature.
Many rappers put on a facade. Stiff upper lip, tough-guy style. They hide their innermost feelings behind gold chains, designer clothes, and violent lyrics, tuck them secretly away, beneath silken pillows in secured mansions. But they’re still there, those feelings. Just rarely discussed.
Until now. It took us a long time to convince some of these guys. But, through sheer persistance, and an understanding mein, we finally got them to open up and admit to the things they'd go back and do differently if they only could. Yes, we uncovered the intimate details of 14 rappers' regrets. Everybody has regrets. You gotta learn to live with them. Just ask Jay Z.
Written by Lauren Schwartzberg (@laurschwar)
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Juicy J
Promethezine/codeine syrup took the life of UGK's Pimp C in December 2007. As a close friend, Juicy J regrets not speaking up sooner. "My biggest regret as an artist was not telling Pimp C to slow down," he says. "I don't have any regrets as far as my own personal career goes, everything that happened, happened for a reason, but the death of Chad changed my life forever." He's now working on a Pimp C posthumous album.
Pete Rock
Pete Rock remember the night that Mtume's "Juicy Fruit" was playing on his drum machine when Biggie and P. Diddy came over. Next thing he knew, Biggie jacked the track and made it famous. Rock has no hard feelings, though. He was still on the remix and is fast to say his biggest regret is not having worked more with the Notorious B.I.G. "My biggest regret would be not working with Biggie more and Tupac more. I've worked with Biggie. Not in the studio, but he's come to my house, we hashed out beats and that's where the 'Juicy' thing came about with me doing the remix. With 'Pac, we were friends, but we never worked in the studio together, yet."
Danny Brown
Danny Brown is giving to a fault. He regrets "not telling other artist no on features sometimes. Doing verses over emails don't always come out good. They always fucking up the mixing of my voice or moving my vocals to fit the beat when I recorded it off beat." Save those great off-beat verses for yourself, Danny!
Prodigy
Biggie said "Mo Money Mo Problems," but Prodigy doesn't care. He would've gone back and made sure to secure all of his cash. "If I could pick something, it would probably have to do with keeping Mobb Deep independent so all of the money would come to us," he said to HipHopDX. "That'd be the best thing to pick. The way my grandmother raised me as far as teaching me the business and being independent and owning and operating your own business, it's just instilled in me to want that and to do that."
But then, in typical rapper fashion, right after admitting he had a regret, he claimed he had no regrets: "Like I've said, though, I don't really believe in regrets. Things happen for a reason. That's how I see it, as far as Mobb Deep's career. Everything's happened for a reason. We've been blessed and we've been good. There's really nothing for us to regret."
Scarface
We caught up with Face while he was out on the links. Between shots, though, the Geto Boy golfer shared some life advice: beware of fake friends. "If I would have to figure any regret," he says. "It's putting fake friends before business. I just regret that I have fake friends that got in the way of my business."
Ja Rule
He's had a career filled with roller-coaster climbs and falls, and even recently admitted to "Taking an L" from 50 in the early aughts. But the first thing that comes to Ja Rule's mind in terms of regrets is his schooling. "There's a few things that I would've done differently in my personal life. I probably would've stayed in school and got my education."
Kendrick Lamar
The Best Rapper Alive still wishes he knew what college was like. "Not experiencing college, at least for a semester, that was my biggest regret, doing it while I was in my teens, at least to get the feeling and try to understand it," he said, to Fuse. "Now, all these years have passed, I done got deep into a music career, it's gonna be hard to find the time unless I really put my focus into it."
Rick Ross
Rick Ross made a rape comment and it was such a big mistake that it got its own apology letter. It said: "Before I am an artist, I am a father, a son, and a brother to some of the most cherished women in the world. So for me to suggest in any way that harm and violation be brought to a woman is one of my biggest mistakes and regrets. As an artist, one of the most liberating things is being able to paint pictures with my words. But with that comes a great responsibility. And most recently, my choice of words was not only offensive, it does not reflect my true heart. And for this, I apologize. To every woman that has felt the sting of abuse, I apologize. I recognize that as an artist I have a voice and with that, the power of influence. To the young men who listen to my music, please know that using a substance to rob a woman of her right to make a choice is not only a crime, it's wrong and I do not encourage it. To my fans, I also apologize if I have disappointed you. I can only hope that this sparks a healthy dialogue and that I can contribute to it."
Big Boi
Constantly travelling and touring, Big Boi didn't realize what he was missing out on at home until it was gone. "I guess my biggest regret would probably be not spending more time with my father before he passed," the OutKast rapper told Fuse. "I was just so busy on the road and it's like, when they're gone, damn...My last album was titled after him. It was a form of I guess self-therapy for me. Son Of Chico Dusty is an ode to my father, definitely."
Joe Budden
Joe Budden's free spirit got the best of him. He was willing to try anything, until he heard his own song in the club and realized that a lot of "anything" just wasn't good. "In the early stages of my career, I was signed to a production company who had a lot to say on what I would record," he said to Vibe. "Plus, I was so open minded that I was willing to try almost anything. Records like 'Porno Star,' 'Roll Your Backyard,' and 'Jingling Baby'-those records are so far from anything that I would write personally. I was in the strip club about five years ago and I heard "Roll Your Backyard" come on and it was like my soul was cringing. It almost felt like I was going to throw up. That's when I decided I would never make another song that I didn't want to make."
Mondre of Main Attraktionz
Still young and moving up, Mondre's all smiles career-wise. But he wishes he had more memories with his family. "I can't regret this life I'm living," he says. "I can actually have a smile on my face. I wish I woulda spent time with them more growing up, though."
T3 of Slum Village
He's worked with greats like Dilla and Tribe, and even made a song featuring Kanye West. But T3 can't stop thinkng about the time he was almost featured on Kanye's second album, Late Registration. "I regret not doing this song with Kanye West," he says. "When I first met Kanye it was at the BET Awards and I was walking into the W Hotel. He said, 'Yo, come up and check out the new album I'm working on.' I heard a little bit of 'Jesus Walks' before it came out and then he said, 'Okay, I got a record I want you to get on.' It was a record called 'Magic Man' and it was about a pimp who was controlling all the bitches in the neighborhood or something. At that time I said I would do it and I planned on doing the record. I just didn't know how to approach that record and I never did the record. Fast forward years later, he remembered, because Kanye remembers everything, and basically he wanted our time to do something. He charged a pretty healthy amount because of me not doing that verse, I guess."
Mac Miller
When we spoke to Mac Miller for our cover story earlier this year, he admitted there was one song in his catalog that he regretted. "I can't make 'Up All Night' right now," he said. "That's the only record I regret. 'Party on Fifth Ave'-great song, I guess. It's fun. But when I listen to that song and those verses, I hear nothing. I don't say anything." That said, despite the criticism his debut album, Blue Slide Park received, he still stand by that album. "It's a good album," he said. "There's great records on that album. I don't regret Blue Slide Park at all."
Cam'ron
Nope. Killa Cam wouldn't change a thing. "I don't regret nothing," he says. "Everything I did happened and if I didn't like it then it worked itself out. I don't like to say that I regret anything." So don't even try asking, he's good.