Passion has always been likened to a fire that burns deeply within the soul. Unfortunately, when you’re a recording artist that fire is sometimes dimmed or extinguished due to cutthroat industry politics. The flames of passion flickered for one of hip-hop’s most talented lyricists and former first lady of Busta Rhymes’ Flipmode Squad, Rah Digga, who received widespread critical acclaim with her Dirty Harriet debut. After her sophomore release was shelved and Flipmode Squad disbanded, Rah Digga virtually disappeared from the public eye for 10 years. Now she is back with a new album, Classic, and revealing that it took an accidental fire in her home last year for her passion to be reignited.
“I lost all of my physical objects. It woke me up because all this material stuff is nothing. If I perished in that fire what would my legacy be? What [have I] done that was great for other people besides myself? So I really started putting things together that really make a difference to other people,” she says.
That epiphany has led Rah Digga to establish The Feed Me Foundation, which provides food to poor residents in her hometown of Newark, N.J.; and The Rah Digga Foundation for Creative Arts and Sciences. The latter organization focuses on giving disadvantaged youth access to training for careers behind the scenes in the entertainment industry. For Rah Digga, it’s also about proving that there are hip-hop artists who care about their community.
“It shows there are people in the record industry who care. We are not just popping s— on records and running to the jewelry store or the car dealer. There are some of us that have brains and recognize the important things in life.”
Now with her mission clear and passion blazing brighter than ever before, Rah Digga has no plans of slowing down. She has plans to possibly release three albums within the next year, including a Classic reissue with special features and a top secret collaborative effort.
With her foundations and additional albums in the works, Rah Digga is on fire, and this time in the best way possible.
–souleo
