Kendrick Lamar's viral new song validated Dee-1's unyielding message that hip hop culture has sunk into Hades -- and the New Orleans-bred rapper is etching it as a career-changing moment!!!
TMZ Hip Hop caught up with Dee on Thursday, just hours after Kendrick shouted him out on the song being dubbed, "Watch The Party Die."
Kendrick seemingly mutes himself with the somewhat cryptic bars, "I want to be empathetic, my heart like Dee-1 but I would ___" ... and Dee thinks the Compton lyricist was metaphorically saying he would blacken his soul to combat the evils of the world, and decided that silence would be the best punchline to end the rhyme.
Dee-1 resigned as a NOLA-based schoolteacher in 2010, and he and K. Dot both started their hip hop careers amid the culture's storied "blog era."
Kendrick's "Watch The Party Die" especially hits home for him because it dropped around the death anniversary of his former student Garrett Burton, aka rapper Gee Money ... who was gunned down in 2017 after beefing with NBA YoungBoy's gang.
Dee also backed Kendrick securing the Super Bowl 59 Halftime Show headlining gig at the cost of passionate Lil Wayne fans in New Orleans ... despite arguments from Nicki Minaj and Birdman on the matter, he doesn't feel the Young Money star's message is ripe for primetime.
He also clapped back at holy-roller Christians calling him "secular" for siding with Kendrick on any medium, and invited all the non-sinners to chunk up the first stone.
It's safe to say he hasn't been hit with a rock yet ... but his "Flippin Tables" podcast and new album "Loaded" might cause some bruised egos down the line!!!