Rappers who have been murdered

The 28-year-old rapper, born Darrell Caldwell, was scheduled to perform at the Once Upon a Time festival in Los Angeles. But Drakeo was stabbed during a dispute backstage on December 18, 2021. He was taken to a hospital, where he died shortly afterwards. He was a cult figure in the Los Angeles rap scene.

Adolph Robert Thornton Jr., 36, a father of two children, was on his way to a cookie store near Memphis on November 17, 2021, when a car pulled up and shots rang out, according to a police report. "This crime is another example of the senseless gun violence we are seeing locally and nationwide," said Police Chief Cerelyn Davis. Young Dolph was considered a pioneer of indie rap.

Nils Kurt Erik Einar Gronberg was shot dead at the age of 19 in his hometown of Stockholm in October 2021. Einar became famous through social media; his first hit was "Katten i trakten" (The Cat in the Neighborhood). Likewise in Europe, Berlin hip-hop idol Attila Murat Aydin, alias Maxim, was stabbed to death by a pensioner in 2003.

Ermias Asghedom, born in Los Angeles in 1985, was shot dead outside a clothing store he owned in 2019. Just hours before, he had written on Twitter, "Having strong enemies is a blessing." Known as Nipsey Hussle in the hip-hop industry, he was part of the gang South Side Crips as a young man. Rihanna was among the pop stars who offered their condolences on Twitter after the incident.

Jason Mizell, 37, was shot in the head in a New York record studio in 2002. He was co-founder of the platinum-selling group Run-DMC, along with his childhood friends Run (Joseph Simmons) and D.M.C. (Darryl McDaniels). According to a 2015 study by Dianna Theadora Kenny of the University of Sydney, Australia, murder was the cause of 50% of US rap musicians' deaths.

Christopher Wallace was shot from another car while sitting at a red light in LA on March 9, 1997. The crime was never solved. There were repeated shootings among Notorious B.I.G.'s contemporaries, such as in the entrance hall of a record studio. In her study, Professor Kenny attributed the high murder rate in hip-hop and rap music circles to the close ties to criminal gangs.

After Tupac Shakur watched a Mike Tyson boxing match in Las Vegas on September 7, 1996, he was involved in a violent dispute with a member of the South Side Crips gang in the lobby of the venue. Shortly after, he was shot four times in a drive-by shooting. He died six days later. The case has never been solved. Today, 2Pac remains an icon in the US anti-racism movement.