A Lil Positivity: Juelz Santana Mentors Houston Youth After Tour Stop Goes Awry

Courtesy of the Hip Hop Live Crew

“Dip Set” Rapper Told Texas Kids About The Dangers Of Peer Pressure

Juelz Santana may be fighting for his freedom in his federal airport gun bust case, but the rapper still is making time to steer the next generation in the right direction.

The Harlem rapper spent the day with dozens of middle and high school-aged kids in Houston this week after he canceled his appearance on the “Dip Set” Reunion tour because of a pay dispute, multiple sources confirmed to BOSSIP.

On Tuesday, Santana, accompanied by his partner Kimbella, met with almost 50 kids at a local Houston community center, where he spoke to them about following their dreams and staying away from unhealthy influences, said Anthony Lozada, of the Hip Hop Live Review, which hosted the visit.

“He was telling them that this is the age you have to worry about peer pressure and telling them to do the wrong thing,” Lozada said. “(He said) they have to follow their gut instinct. He told them about hanging with the right people and when they see that things aren’t going well, that it’s not a good situation for them.”

After the talk, Santana – whose real name is Laron James – posed for pics with some of the children.

Santana has been allowed to perform on the tour as he waits to resolve his federal case accusing him of trying to bring a gun on a plane to a club appearance in California. He is facing 20 years in prison if he is convicted, and has remained on house arrest.

Santana decided to go ahead with the kids’ visit despite clashing with his tour promoters about how they were marketing the Houston show as well as how much money he was supposed to get. In the end, both he and Cam’ron decided not to go on stage for the show at Houston’s Warehouse Live, though Jim Jones went ahead with the show.

Santana’s legal advisor Allen DeWane arranged for Santana to speak with the youth, and said Santana drove 12 hours with Kimbella from North Carolina to Texas to visit the children.

“I commend him for that,” Lozada said. “There wasn’t a lot of promotion going on. And he took his time and he still came out here…he was being a stand-up guy and keeping his word.”