If you were an aspiring artist with dreams of making it big like your favorites, some opportunities appear to be perfect and/or timeless. And some artists are motivated by the potential of producing large amounts of money. But as an artist, if you were given a choice between a sum of money or an opportunity to politic with your favorite artist, which would you choose? For a local rapper named Lon6z, he was given this choice to link with Boosie Badazz or take $20,000, and his pick was a simple one.
Lon6z, real name Allante DeBrill, hopped on what he felt could have been a potential to meet with Boosie Badazz after seeing a tweet from the rapper. According to his official website, the Dayton, Ohio, born artist is a singer, songwriter, and rapper who has had his foot in the music industry since 2016. After relocating to Los Angeles to pursue his dreams, Lon6z was afforded the opportunity to engineer sessions for Kehlani and Flo Rida, among others.
Lon6z has quite a few releases on DSPs with a current monthly listener count of over 16k on Spotify. His discography also lists a single titled “Run It Up 2.0,” which features controversial rapper Boosie Badazz and was released in November of 2021. The song is a remix of his single “Run It Up,” released in December 2020. The “Wipe Me Down” rapper’s appearance on the song could be viewed by many as a great look as Lon6z is an independent artist who has secured a feature from a well-known rapper. Boosie also can be seen in the song’s accompanying music video, which has over 41k views on YouTube.
It is unknown how much Lon6z paid to acquire Boosie Badazz on his single. However, a past interview that Vlad TV conducted with Boosie gives an idea. During the conversation, the rapper shared that he usually charges $15,000 for features but has since cut that price down to $7,000 to be more affordable to artists affected by the pandemic.
But in December, Boosie posed a question to his fans which Lon6z could not resist answering. Attempting to “see who’s smart,” the rapper asks in a since-deleted tweet, “DINNER WITH BOOSIE OR 20 THOUSAND?” Lon6z promptly responded, “[forget]20k! What’s for dinner I’m [on the way].”
Instead of leaving it to fate, Lon6z took a leap and attempted to further their conversation privately in Boosie’s DMs. Considering it the “[easiest] decision ever made,” Lon6z went on to seriously inquire about Boosie’s proposition for a dinner opportunity. A little over 15 minutes later, Boosie responded to Lon6z’s message asking him if he was “sure” that he did not want the money. “I’m not trippin on that just let me know where to pull up,” Lon6z insisted. To his surprise, Boosie responded with a promise to get in direct contact with Lon6z. It looks like the New Orleans rapper was good on his word, according to Lon6z’s Twitter. Using the popular “How It Started vs. How It’s Going” trend, he shared proof of their exchange, and the last photo shows the two together.
Responses on social media were divided as some praised Lon6z for his choice while others criticized him for not walking away with the money. “Boosie? I’ll just take the money what he gon tell you how to lose ya Instagram,” on user stated. But the self-proclaimed “hustler” shared exclusively with The Shade Room that he had a gut feeling that it was “the way to go.” He also labeled Boosie as “one of the most knowledgeable OGs out there” and credited him for giving him great advice. “I already made that 20k and then some,” said Lon6z. Later, he would share a clip of Boosie’s guest appearance on his single and said that it was “Worth every penny.”
This particular experience mirrors the conversation on social media earlier this year, which caused quite the stir. The question was whether users would take $500,000 in cash or have dinner with Jay-Z. For many, dinner with the Brooklyn-born rapper-turned-overall businessman holds more value than the money. In his almost 30 year career, Jay-Z has achieved much more than just multiplatinum albums and singles and millions of records sold. He’s also been successful as a CEO of Roc-A-Fella Records and Roc Nation, clothing line Rocawear, and the owner of the 40/40 Club sports bar and lounge.
The rapper also acquired the tech company Aspiro that launched Tidal. As of 2021, Jay-Z has a position on Tidal’s board. He has also been listed as a billionaire, which many people aspire to become. These are just a few examples that scratch the surface of his accomplishments. However, some would be quick to take half a million dollars for apparent reasons. Outside of it being a more considerable sum of money than many have seen, there is much potential that can be done with $500k. Those who want to launch a business or looking to invest may be quick to jump at the money. Then many have large debts that the funds could eradicate. And we can’t forget the people that want to squander the money frivolously. With all of the opinions surrounding the debate, Jay-Z’s team seemingly took to Twitter to give his take. Using Tidal’s Twitter account, they tweeted, “Take the $500K.”
What would you do?
