YNW Melly felt conflicted about Kendrick Lamar referencing the incarcerated rapper’s murder case on the diss track “Euphoria.” Melly commented on the song following its release on Tuesday (April 30).
“Kendrick Lamar is one of my favorite rappers so I feel honored and appalled,” he told TMZ. “I’m a household name — just for the wrong s###!!!”
Florida prosecutors accuse Melly of killing his friends YNW Juvy and YNW Sakchaser in 2018. Kendrick alluded to the murders on his Drake diss.
“Yeah, Cole and Aubrey know I’m a selfish n####/The crown is heavy, huh/I pray they my real friends, if not, I’m YNW Melly,” Kendrick rapped on “Euphoria.”
Melly mistakenly believed he got dissed by Kendrick in March. The Florida-bred rapper was confused by Kendrick’s reference to Hip-Hop legend Grandmaster Melle Mel on Future and Metro Boomin’s song “Like That.”
“F### sneak dissin’, first-person shooter, I hope they came with three switches/I crash out like, ‘F### rap,’ diss Melle Mel if I had to,” Kendrick rapped.
Melly reacted to the song by saying he “wasn’t ready for this stray” and tagging Kendrick on Instagram.
“@kendricklamar thought we was cool I sent you my vocals for your record come on OG I’m innocent.”
Melly remains in jail awaiting a retrial in his murder case. His first trial ended in a mistrial.
The retrial was delayed indefinitely due to an appeal filed by the prosecution. Prosecutors appealed Judge John Murphy’s order to suppress a documentary as evidence in the trial. Melly’s legal team asked the judge for permission to proceed with depositions and outstanding motions in the slow-moving proceedings. Prosecutors said the appeal must be settled first. Judge Murphy took both sides’ arguments under advisement, issuing no ruling at an April hearing.
Melly, whose real name is Jamell Demons, faces the possibility of the death penalty if convicted. He maintains his innocence.
