To some people, the devil isn’t some red dude with pointy horns. The devil is that Sallie Mae bill they receive every month. Sallie Mae is student loan hell, but unfortunately, many students across the U.S. rely on it to further their education.
But one New Orleans rapper is done with his journey through the depths of Sallie Mae hell. And he made a song about it.
“I finished paying Sallie Mae back,” rapped Dee-1, whose real name is David Augustine Jr., a graduate of Louisiana State University.
In an interview with Market Watch, Augustine expressed why he felt the need to rap about his student loans.
“The goal was to make an anthem that would allow people to feel the excitement that I felt, but hopefully, it would also begin a bigger conversation about the student loan debt crisis,” Augustine, 27, said. “Student loan debt is out of control, and I do think that college should ultimately be made more affordable.”
“Out of control” is an understatement. Currently, there are 40 million Americans who hold $1.3 trillion in student debt.
With a degree in hand, after graduating in 2009, Augustine got a job as a public school teacher, but he still had problems paying his student loan bills.
And he raps, “Wasn’t making quite enough to pay them back. Went in default, messed my credit up. Check my Equifax.”
Augustine’s song definitely tells the truth about student loan hell. But luckily for him, he used the money from the record deal he signed in 2014 to pay back Sallie Mae.
Now, that’s what you call making smart decisions with your money.