Deb Antney is a hip-hop mogul responsible for some of the biggest names in music. Gucci Mane, French Montana, and Nicki Minaj all owe their initial success to Antney. She is also the mother of Waka Flocka Flame and helped pioneer his success as well. With such an impressive roster of talent to her name, Antney also became a star in her own right, thanks to her involvement in the Love and Hip-Hop franchise. Antney recently stopped by N.O.R.E’s Drink Champs to discuss her life growing up and some of the mistakes she made as a kid.
Antney’s parents did what they had to do to ensure their family could survive. Unfortunately for their kids, this meant hiding substances in plain sight throughout their home. Antney explains that her family did not adequately explain to her some of the things she saw around the house, so, unfortunately, she would learn the hard way what they were.
Deb’s parents were street pharmacists. After coming across some of their product, Deb recalls her stepfather telling her it was just baby powder. One day after a shower, Deb and her sibling decided to use some of mom’s baby powder and had a terrifying reaction. She began nodding and throwing up all over the place, eventually escorted by her parents to the hospital. Deb explains that her mother showed no remorse and blamed her for the incident and not her husband. According to Deb, her mother called her junkie and gave her a beating.
Deb goes on to say that she also had a run-in with other substances as well. While speaking of another experience, Deb revealed she can’t Orange juice to this day after mistaking it for another substance that caused her to get extremely sick. N.O.R.E compared her story to one from R&B legend Bobby Brown. Brown also grew up in a household with substances present, and like Deb’s parents, Brown’s explained them away as regular household items. In his 2016 memoirs, he says he accidentally used what he believed to be flour he found in the freezer to fry chicken. A naive Brown was not alerted by the smell and managed to get a few bites in before feeling sick. His mother walked into the kitchen in horror when she realized what had happened. Brown’s mother did not explain to him what had happened, but he was able to piece things together. “It wasn’t until months later that I truly understood what was going on in my home,” he wrote in the book.
Antney went on to say that once she figured out what was going on in her household, she became inspired. She wanted to follow in the footsteps of her family because of how much she’d learned early on and how much money she saw them making. “I was going to do what no woman had ever done,” she said, beaming with pride to a round of applause from everyone in the studio. Luckily her street smarts would help her go straight and launch some of the biggest careers in hip-hop instead of the alternative.
