Rappers and luxury cars go hand-in-hand — like peanut butter and chocolate, or bacon and eggs. It’s a rare occurrence to see a rapper not driving around in a McLaren P1, or more commonly, a Lamborghini. Therefore, when a rapper like Dee-1 decides to tell USA Today that he doesn’t drive an expensive luxury car simply because he doesn’t want to, it might be a bit startling. Much like if the food pairings mentioned above suddenly divorced, and everything you told yourself about food became a lie.
Moving away from the food references, Dee-1 actually has a great reason for not buying a Lambo or McLaren, and it’s a huge boost in credibility when it comes to buying a used car. Truly proving that if you buy the right type of used vehicle, you’ll save all sorts of money in the long run.
What Dee-1 so Artfully Articulates
This novel approach to used-car buying takes his music in a completely different direction. Instead of rapping about Lambos, he tells us about why he likes to drive his ’98 Honda Accord, and has no intention of giving it up anytime soon.
Consider a few of the verses from his new song, “No Car Note”
I ain’t got no note
I feel like a king not being in debt no mo
I ain’t got no note
Say my boy my car gets me from A to B
I ain’t got no car note
That’s the way to be
If you don’t know by now one day you’ll see
Obviously, this artfully articulated piece is describing his love for his ’98 Honda Accord, but also for the used car buying scene in general. He then went on to tell USA Today that this is the only type of rap he could do to be genuine to the type of person that he is, making music to motivate people to fulfill their life missions. Instead of being self-serving like most rap artists, he enjoys making music to help people.
That was paraphrased from his quotes directly, but it still drives the message home.
But, this song hits on a deeper meaning with the new car market as well – a problem that many car buyers are noticing, causing them to take the plunge into the used car world. The average loan taken out to pay for a new car in 2016 is $30,032, which is an all-time high. With an average of $503 a month paid on new vehicles.
Given how expensive owning a new car has become, it can impede things like paying a mortgage on a home or combating student loans. The car note he refers to is the monthly payment connected to a new car loan, which he doesn’t have to worry about on his used car.
In his song, he also expresses how nice it is to use that extra money saved from not paying a car note each month for vacations and to “stack up his savings.” Closing out the interview, he tells USA Today that he believes a car is not a representation of one’s value. Instead, being financially literate determines your value, and having an abnormal payment on a car each month isn’t something that he considers financially responsible.
As more people start adopting Dee-1’s approach of “a car is for getting me from point A to point B so I can do business…” we’re bound to see a big shift in the automotive world, especially if the price of new cars keeps climbing.
