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Back in 2006, when Young Dro released a song named Shoulder Lean as his debut single, featuring fellow rapper T.I. on the hook and Deion Sanders in the lyrics, he expected at least a bare minimum of appreciation from the Colorado Buffaloes head coach. And after waiting for two decades, Dro expressed his disappointment with Sanders.
“I have a little beef with Deion Sanders,” Dro said on The Water Boyz Show during his appearance a month ago. “Because I always see him reach back to artists and was bringing them out when he was at Colorado. He used to bring artists up. But nobody ever mentioned him but me in a number one hit.”
Deion Sanders himself crossed over into hip-hop in 1994 when he released his own rap album titled Prime Time under MC Hammer’s label. Deion has always shared a mutual respect with the rap community and many of its artists.
In 2006, Young Dro was an emerging rapper and had just released his first single, Shoulder Lean, with lyrics dedicated to Deion Sanders, “Red, black, and white Chevy, man, I’m ridin’ Deion [Sanders].”
However, he felt disappointed when he did not receive flowers from Sanders for his work, unlike other upcoming rappers like Amir. Sanders had validated Amir’s efforts by saying, “I’m so darn proud of you.” But the actual picture seems quite different from what Dro perceived.
“First of all, I don’t listen to too much music, but my kids keep me up on game. But there’s no way that somebody would have put me in the song and I wouldn’t have shown them love. Ain’t no way in the world,” Sanders said on THE CFB SCOOP. “I don’t believe that… Well, I don’t know how I got back to you, but I apologize on behalf of my team if we didn’t show you the love that you deserve and the respect that you deserve. And I appreciate you, man. So thank you. Thank you for mentioning me and keeping me popping in this generation, man. I appreciate that.”
Shoulder Lean was a number-one hit and dominated the rap and urban music charts. Yet, Deion Sanders, who was transitioning into an on-air analyst with NFL Network in 2006 after retirement from the playing career, failed to catch wind of Young Dro’s song.
