The information provided on this website does not, and is not intended to, act as legal, financial or credit advice; instead, it is for general informational purposes only. Information on this website may not be current. This website may contain links to other third-party websites. Such links are only for the convenience of the reader, user or browser; we do not recommend or endorse the contents of any third-party sites. Readers of this website should contact their attorney, accountant or credit counselor to obtain advice with respect to their particular situation. No reader, user, or browser of this site should act or not act on the basis of information on this site. Always seek personal legal, financial or credit advice for your relevant jurisdiction. Only your individual attorney or advisor can provide assurances that the information contained herein – and your interpretation of it – is applicable or appropriate to your particular situation. Use of, and access to, this website or any of the links or resources contained within the site do not create an attorney-client or fiduciary relationship between the reader, user, or browser and website owner, authors, contributors, contributing firms, or their respective employers.
Credit.com receives compensation for the financial products and services advertised on this site if our users apply for and sign up for any of them. Compensation is not a factor in the substantive evaluation of any product.
Attention student loan debtors: You now have an anthem.
After going into student loan default and eventually paying back his debt, rapper Dee-1 memorialized his triumph by composing “Sallie Mae Back,” a celebratory rap and accompanying music video that captures the ups and downs of education debt. After a week on YouTube, “Sallie Mae Back” was closing in on 100,000 views.
Even if you haven’t yet paid off your student loans, there’s so much to relate to in the video. It starts with a financial aid counselor going through a laundry list of paperwork students will need to get loans (ah, yes, the FAFSA) and touches on several pain points many borrowers experience during their years, sometimes decades, in debt.
Dee-1, aka David Augustine Jr., is a 26-year-old graduate of Louisiana State University, who taught middle school in Baton Rouge for 2 years before pursuing a career in hip hop, according to his website. He eventually repaid his loans using the advance from his record deal.
But before that, he went through the same thing millions of Americans have and continue to experience. In “Sallie Mae Back,” he mentions not making enough money to make his loan payments, defaulting on the debt and messing up his credit. (You can see how your student loans are affecting your credit by looking at your two free credit scores each month on Credit.com.) Then he started getting calls from the student loan servicer: “Let me tell you what I been through when it come to Sallie / She call me at least twice a day / She want her money badly.”
As other student loan borrowers can attest: Yes. Yes she does.
Dee-1 spends much of the video jumping up and down with joy, wearing a T-shirt that says “I FINISHED.” It’s every student loan borrower’s dream.
We all want to do that happy dance.
You bet we’re all taking screen shots of that email saying, “Congratulations, you’ve paid your loan in full.”
When he breaks it down in front of a personified Sallie, we wish to be his backup dancers.
Let us all look forward to our own debt-free celebrations. The day will come. Eventually.
Image: Rawpixel Ltd
August 26, 2020
Student Loans
August 4, 2020
Student Loans
July 31, 2020
Student Loans
