Valley of Death

Album: Deeper Than Rap (2009)
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Songfacts®:

  • Ross told MTV News that the concept of this song, "was just, that's really what it is - every day I get up and live the life that I live. Do the things I do. Move how I move. Walking in the valley of death, I feel my life is on the line every day. It's a 50/50 chance."
  • On this song Ross speaks briefly on his controversial stint as a prison guard but denies the rumor that he was ever an officer of the law. Instead he claims that that he had "two jobs," as at the same time he was working as a corrections officer, he was also on the streets.
  • In March 2009 the Miami rapper Trick Daddy announced that he has the skin disease Lupus. A lyric on this song, "Very first line he called Trick Daddy stupid/ Said he had AIDS telling people that it's lupus," understandably upset the Florida rapper. He said to MTV News that his disease shouldn't be taken lightly. Said Trick: "Millions of people are stricken with lupus. I have stayed out of the bulls--t, I will continue to stay out of it. Ross had been with Slip-N-Slide Records as long as I have been with Slip-N-Slide Records. He's known I've had lupus for 10 years. I was referred to my doctor by Ted Lucas who is the head of Slip-N-Slide Records. I would like to apologize to everyone suffering with lupus. I would like to apologize for the insults."
  • Co-producer DJ Toomp revealed to MTV News that this song was originally intended for Jay-Z. He explained: "At the end of last year, I decided to go round up some producers - we all put our heads together on that joint and that's what it was. They brought [a rough version of the beat] to me and I ended up fattening it up, I heard the whole idea and originally I was gonna give that to Jay-Z, believe it or not."
    A mutual friend of Ross and Toomp's convinced the producer to let the Florida rapper hear the track. Toomp recalled: "We went to Ross' crib in Atlanta. I played that beat and he lost his mind. I played a few beats, but that particular one, he was like, 'That's it, man.' We was just kicking it. He played a few joints off the album to show me what direction he was going and immediately I knew what to give him based on what's on his playlist. He started mumbling ideas. I knew he was going in the right direction."
  • Toomp clarified that the song's hook was not sampled. He explained: "The singing with the lady's voice - everybody thinks that's a sample, nah. That's a woman that sings on a lot of Snoop's s--t. The way we EQ'ed it sounds like a sample, but nah. It has a few strikes behind it. That's just a person singing on the mic - it just has that effect on it."

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