Gillie Da Kid has revealed how he’s attempting to save lives while moving forward from the fatal shooting of his son nearly three years ago.
The Philadelphia-bred Hip-Hop veteran-turned-podcaster opened up about his heartbreaking struggle with his late son, Yng Cheese, during his raw and emotional interview with Shannon Sharpe on his Club Shay Shay podcast.
As he reflected on their strained relationship before Cheese’s tragic death in July 2023, Gillie uncovered how he’s mobilizing his grief to affect the change he wants to see. He told Sharpe that part of his motivation is the way he left things with his son before his untimely death.
“I ain’t gonna sugarcoat s### I was struggling with my son, trying to get him the f### out the streets,” Gillie admitted. “We didn’t even have the best relationship when he passed because he wanted to be a street n#### and I didn’t believe in that s###.”
.@gilliedakid: "I was struggling with my son, trying to get him the f*ck out the streets. We didn't even have the best relationship when he passed. He wanted to be a street n*gga, and I didn't believe in that sh*t."@ShannonSharpe: "How did Cheese get involved in that life? At… pic.twitter.com/QzUJ54rLO4
— Club Shay Shay (@ClubShayShay) February 14, 2025
As he continued, Gillie explained why his mission is no longer about his son.
“It ain’t about Cheese no more,” he said earnestly. “Cheese ain’t here. It’s about me saving somebody else’s life and letting them know that you can die out here. Somebody will blow your brains out playing out here and thinking this sh*t is not serious when it is.”
Gillie continued, maing it clear that the streets only lead to two outcomes.
“It ain’t no successful drug dealers out here,” he said. “There’s not no successful criminals out here. No, they die and they go to jail. So if you want to be in jail for the rest of your life, that’s cool. If you want to get the seeds knocked out your melon, that’s cool. But I’m here to tell you, that’s what’s going to happen.”
Reflecting on how Cheese got caught up in the streets, Gillie pointed to the pressure of fitting into an image and how stories such as his son’s are all too common amongst the youth.
“Being a follower, wanting to subscribe to some s### that’s not really you,” he said while remarking on how his son got caught up with the wrong people. “And that’s most of the kids out here. Most of the kids in the suburbs subscribe to s### that is not even really them, and then they got to prove themselves.”
He also highlighted how peer pressure leads kids to make deadly choices.
“They don’t want to be looked at as p*ssy, so that’ll drive them to do some sh*t they had no business doing,” he said. “My message to the youth is go ahead and do something that’s beneficial to you. The streets don’t love nobody.”
Gillie also shattered the illusion of success in the drug game.
“If you could show me the drug dealer with the big house on the hill, I congratulate you,” he said. “If you could show me 10 successful drug dealers, you could tell me 10 street n#####, I’m going to show you nine that’s going to tell. All of this s### is a myth.”
Gillie ended with a sobering thought.
“It ain’t even about Cheese no more. It’s about saving some other lives that think this s### is more than what it is. I can’t do nothing for Cheese. Cheese is gone.”
Watch the clip in the post above and also revisit the previous clip from the interview, during which Gillie reveals how his son is connected to the 17-year-old Philadelphia basketball star who was recently fatally shot via the post below.
"These kids are influenced by all the wrong things. … These kids actually think that you can't make it as a rapper unless you k*lled somebody. This is the mindset" – @gilliedakid pic.twitter.com/1PTuRXeGoq
— Club Shay Shay (@ClubShayShay) February 12, 2025