In December 2020, rapper Zoey Dollaz survived a shooting incident outside Teyana Taylor’s birthday party in Miami. He survived another shooting while driving around Atlanta and according to TMZ, some 75 rounds were fired in his direction.
His experience with gun violence influenced the Miami rapper to start a bulletproof version of Uber for celebrities and other VIPs. He named his venture Aegis after the Greek god Athena’s protective cloak.
Sharing more details about his venture on Instagram, he said the cars he rents out are “fully bulletproof to the highest level” adding that they “come with trained armed drivers.” Aside from Miami, his car rental services are also available in Los Angeles, Atlanta, New York City, and Chicago, and additional cities are in the pipeline.
He reportedly started Aegis with only two cars in January 2021. Since then, the business has been booming. According to him, he has now rented out 23 cars to artists during this year’s Rolling Loud Miami festival. One of his proud customers is Manny Pacquiao.
“I created my bulletproof car service because my peers, my rap friends, they’re in danger. They wait till we get onto the highway and try and spray us,” Dollaz told On The Radar Radio, according to HipHopdx. “
“Football players that come from the hood they gotta go back to the hood and see their people, but we see the stories of them getting harmed up so I’m like you know what? Let me create like an uber but with bulletproof vehicles, and I did that,” he added.
According to Dollaz, during his own shooting, he had taken his mom’s new Mercedes Benz out for a spin, which wasn’t bulletproof. He was quick to add that prior to 2020, he travelled in bulletproof vehicles.
“Actually, I had my bulletproof cars when I got shot. I just was in my mother’s car. I had just got my mom a Benz, and I’m like, ‘Let me flex in my mama’s sh*t real quick.’ Man, I end up gettin’ hit up in there,” the rapper said.
In addition to his bulletproof car rental services, Dollaz is also a restaurant investor. He is reportedly working on his new Haitian-influenced Hibachi restaurant.
“The rap industry will try to put you in a box like, ‘Nah you need to focus on being a celebrity and a star,’” he said. “What happens when it slows down?… that’s why as a rapper, you need to not worry about being hot, you need to worry about being big,” Sundayworld quoted him as saying.
“What keeps me wealthy is business. Real estate, restaurants, things that people need. Essential stuff that’s good for people. People gotta eat.”
