On tonight's episode of Growing Up Hip Hop: Atlanta, music manager Debra Antney calls out Bow Wow for skipping a children's meet and greet that he promised to attend.
Deb sits Bow Wow down in the middle of one of his rehearsals to explain that she had to call her son Waka Flocka last-minute to cover for his absence. "[Waka] came in to save that day, but it didn't save you. Because those kids still got up and said, 'Where's Bow Wow?' You were the main person that these children were asking for, and you told me you were definitely coming."
Bow Wow clearly seems to feel bad after being confronted by Deb.
The manager's regular appearances on the show this season have fans curious about her and her background. What should you know about Debra Antney? Read on.
Antney is the CEO and founder of Mizay Entertainment in Atlanta. She is also the mother of rapper Waka Flocka Flame. Antney has helped launch and manage the careers of celebrities like Nicki Minaj, Gucci Mane, French Montana, and Lex Luger.
Her Son Kayo Redd Passed Away in 2013
Antney is the mother of Waka Flocka Flame, Brandon Barnes, and Kayo Redd. Multiple outlets report that she is mother of five boys and three adopted girls, to which Antney tells Vibe, "... if somebody was to read that in a sentence they would kill me,” she says. “But legally I have three.”
In 2013, at age 22, Kayo was found dead by what appeared to be a self-inflicted gunshot wound. After his passing, Antney founded the pledge 'No RIP (Reckless Internet Posting).' The foundation's website gives some background on Kayo's death. It reads, "At 22 years old, the pressures of the world were too much for him to bare and he decided this was a place he no longer wanted to be. A weight that weighed heavily on KayO and his family were the evils of the internet and the reckless, thoughtless people who spread vicious rumors and fed into harmful gossip regarding his mother and other members of their family."
Why the name No R.I.P? According to the website, Kayo didn't believe in saying "Rest in Peace" because he "believed that people lived on in their spirits forever."
She Had a Rough Childhood
In a 2010 interview with Vibe, Debra discussed her childhood. She explains that her father was an addict, and when she was 9, she overdosed. "There was no Bureau of Child Welfare to come to protect me. Me, playing with a mountain of heroin, thinking it was baby powder, it absorbed in my body. Those are stories that people don’t tell. Those are stories back then where there weren’t people there to save us."
Antney recalls another incident in which her father had her play lookout while he robbed a "place that my mom was working." She says, "I didn’t know what the hell I was doing. My father just told me to watch out, make sure the people ain’t come cause they did something wrong and I had to look out."
According to an article written for the Healthcare & Music Festival, Debra is a certified acupuncturist and social worker. She worked her own way through school while on welfare, according to Vibe.
In an interview with Hip Hop DX, Antney is asked what the hardest part of her job is after spending so much time in the business. She responded:
"When people try and slander you, me losing my identity… Like, at first, me being Nicki Minaj’s manager then me being Gucci Mane’s aunt, then it was OJ Da Juiceman, now it’s Waka Flocka’s mama, but the biggest thing I want people to know is that I’m Deborah Antney. Don’t rob me of my identity, of who I am, don’t take that away from me."
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