Police have arrested a former volunteer track and field coach at the University of South Carolina Upstate for a string of threatening raps he posted onto YouTube.
Colton Hodge, 31, has been charged by the Spartanburg, SC school’s public safety department with threatening the life, person, or family of a public official; disseminating, procuring or promoting obscenity unlawfully; and communicating obscene messages to another person non-telephonically, according to a written statement from the university.
The school believes that Hodge directed two of the videos on his Hodge Media Group YouTube channel towards Mike Hall, the school’s athletic director. A USC Upstate spokeswoman told the Spartanburg Herald Journal that the school was “very concerned about the nature of those videos and the perceived threat.”
Likely, Hodge’s anger derives from the fact that Hall excused him from a position he’d held since 2008 despite mounting student testimonials—something Hodge points to in his “Dear USC Upstate” video—suggesting that he was an integral part of many a student-athlete’s development.
In that video, posted to YouTube June 22, Hodge raps about feeling disrespected by the school, saying that individuals like Mike Hall didn’t “understand the sacrifices I made” and “took me for granted.”
“And I’m going to be the boss of you, goddammit,” he raps. “And what I mean is that I will no longer let you control me, so you better hear me out. This much you owe me.”
In a second video, titled “Dear Governor Haley, p.s. Dear Mike Hall,” Hodge appeals for unemployment benefits to Governor Nikki Haley before directing his attention towards Hall and rapping “You can die in the blink of an eye, so bat your eyelash and quit winking and blowing kisses, because you’re flirting with death. I’m destroying your livelihood, I ain’t just hurting your rep.”
Hodge resigned from his volunteer position at the school on June 4. No word yet on whether or not he plans to pursue a rap career.
Photo via YouTube