Dizzee Rascal
UK grime pioneer Dizzee Rascal ended up on the wrong end of some blades in Cyprus in 2003 and ended suffered six stab wounds at the hands of four assailants. Unlike most rappers he did not make a song about it because he did not want to glorify the incident or compete with 50 Cent who at the time had the hottest album, Get Rich Or Die Trying. The marketing of the album was heavily centered on 50 surviving getting shot 9 times so Dizzee thought it wise to stay away from that media circus. UK grime artist Wiley has claimed that he had a hand in the stabbing, but this is rap so you never know.
Obie Trice
Obie has been rather quiet for a long time. He had his heyday in the mid 2000s when he was second rapper to sign to Shady Records (the first being founder, Eminem). He released his debut album titled Cheers a few months after 50 Cent in 2003 and went on to sell over 2 million records worldwide. In 2005 he ended up taking two shots to the head while in his hometown of Detroit. One of the bullets is still stuck in his skull till today. However, this didn’t seem to stop Obie from releasing his second studio album Second Round’s On Me in 2006 which featured the minor hit song Snitch. Obie mentioned the incident in his songs Cry Now and Pistol Pistol (Remix).
Phora – My Story and God’s Plan
Phora is probably the luckiest man on this list. He nearly experienced death twice but survived both attempts. The first was when he was 15 years old which came in the form of a stabbing at the hands of “a cat [he] used to be tight with.” He was left for dead as bystanders chose not to do anything despite witnessing the incident. He managed to muster up the strength to walk to a phone and call an ambulance. He released the song My Story which describes the events leading up to and after the incident in detail. A few years later at the age of 21 he was on the wrong side of a gun as he drove in a car with his girlfriend. A bullet hit his upper body and neck and barely missed his spine. He documented that incident in his song God's Plan.
The D.O.C.
The D.O.C. suffered a similar situation to Kanye West in the form of a car accident. Just like West, D.O.C. fell asleep at the wheel and the accident rendered him unable to speak for a month and in the long run left his voice destroyed. A rapper’s voice is his most powerful tool. However, D.O.C. was strong with the pen and went on to use his talent as a songwriter to contribute to various projects most notably Dr. Dre’s classic The Chronic. D.O.C. also went on to release a solo studio album titled Helter Skelter in 1996 which managed to reach the 30th position on the Billboard 2000 chart. It was panned by critics.
