Tafia has released his newest album, “Mention My Name,” today. It had a surprise appearance from the late Young Dolph.
One of the songs on the album, “Paper Route,” had a verse from Young Dolph. The song’s name references Dolph’s label, Paper Route Empire. Dolph was shot and killed last November. After his death, the label released the compilation album “Paper Route Empire Presents: Long Live Young Dolph.” It also had snippets from interviews with him and an unreleased verse.
The song premiered at an album release party that Tafia held in Miami.
The song is about taking the easy path to becoming rich, which involves murder. While I understand artistic integrity and keeping the original message, it still feels a little insensitive to use a murder victim’s voice to promote killing. Before Dolph’s murder, he gave Tafia some lyrics. However, these lyrics are what provide a significant theme to the song.
“All we know is killing, all I see is millions. On the block collecting paper off of pounds, My lil n***a and them can’t wait to lay you down/Everybody wanna trap but they ain’t built for it, Who want it the baddest? Will you kill for it?”
‘Paper Route’: A Matter Of Mortal Disqualification
It feels morally dubious for the song to still end with the notion that murder to become rich is good. Especially when half of the rappers who performed it were killed. There are, however, two acceptable options for something like this. The first option is to release the song right away as a single and donate the proceeds. The other option is to tweak the song to make it more palatable for the changed context. Tafia did neither.
Justin Acosta lives in Barstow, California. He recently graduated from University of California Davis and is excited to have a job and prove himself. He has a speech impediment, but he is not going to let that slow him down.
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