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Admired by the hip-hop community for his authenticity and fierce independence, rapper Young Dolph was shot dead Wednesday in a popular cookie shop in his hometown of Memphis, Tennessee, authorities said.
Police tweeted that they had no information on a possible suspect in the shooting that took place at Makeda’s Cookies near Memphis International Airport.
“The tragic gunshot death of rap artist Young Dolph is yet another reminder of the pain that violent crime brings,” Memphis Mayor Jim Strickland said in a statement.
The Daily Memphian reported that Young Dolph’s cousin, Mareno Myers, said the 36-year-old rapper had been in town since Monday to visit an aunt with cancer and also hand out Thanksgiving turkey.
“He was inside (Makedas) and someone just hit him and killed himself,” Myers said.
Just last week the cookie shop posted a video on Instagram in which the rapper promotes the shop’s cookies and says he always returns to the shop when he’s in Memphis.
After the shooting, a large crowd gathered near the store. At a press conference Wednesday night, Memphis Police Department director Cerelyn “CJ” Davis asked the public to keep calm and recommended residents stay home tonight. She didn’t say whether police believe other shots being investigated Wednesday were linked to the rapper’s murder.
A city council member called for a curfew. Davis didn’t rule out issuing one at some point.
Like Los Angeles rapper Nipsey Hussle, who was killed in 2019, Young Dolph took an independent approach to the music business. His label Paper Route Empire kept control of his music. “I just have a different vision for it – strictly 100 percent property rights,” he said in 2018 in a mini-documentary co-produced by his label called “Turned Dirt Into Diamonds”. “Lots of people can’t see what I see.”
“God bless Dolph,” tweeted Chance the Rapper. “Real independent Memphis rapper, born in Chicago. Loved by millions of people. “
Born in Chicago as Adolph Thornton Jr., he moved to Memphis when he was 2 years old, according to The Commercial Appeal. He said in the documentary that he was raised by his grandmother and tried to help his parents “clean up their lives” once he was successful.
He has released numerous mixtapes, starting with the 2008 Paper Route Campaign and several studio albums, including his 2016 debut King of Memphis, Mähne, 2 Chainz and others.
Young Dolph had three albums that reached the top 10 on the Billboard 200, with “Rich Slave” climbing to # 4 in 2020.
In his music, Young Dolph rapped about life as a drug dealer and life on the street in Memphis. He recently performed at a concert at the University of Memphis and appeared at halftime in a Memphis Grizzlies game. In Memphis he was admired as the torchbearer for the rap legends Three 6 Mafia.
Young Dolph considered himself a workaholic and in recent years has focused on growing his business. “I’m CEO first, then artist,” he told writer Gary Suarez in a 2020 interview for Forbes, saying he was strategically reluctant to sign with a major label. “As long as I rise and work, my value will increase.”
“I know what the streets want to hear, I know what the street goes through, the jargon, the fashion, everything. It’s not nothing; it’s my real life, ”he said to Suarez.
Young Dolph had survived previous shootouts. He was shot multiple times in September 2017 after a brawl outside a Los Angeles hotel. In February of that year, his SUV was shot at more than 100 times in Charlotte, North Carolina. The incident was the inspiration for the song “100 Shots”. He said he survived because he had bulletproof panels in his vehicle, The Commercial Appeal reported.
Memphis officials, athletes and numerous members of the music industry expressed condolences on social media.
“RIP to my friend Dolph, it broke my heart,” wrote Gucci Mane on Twitter.
The rapper’s talent agency, APA, said it was shocked and saddened by his death.
“The world has lost an icon, a great man and beloved artist who was kidnapped too early,” the agency said in a statement. “His dedication, drive, hard work, and loyalty to everyone around him have always come first and he is greatly missed.”
In a post on his Twitter account on Oct. 20, Young Dolph said a doctor told him he needed some time to himself.
“I never knew what fear was until my doctor just told me I had it this morning,” read another tweet posted that day.
In an August tweet, he said, “I still can’t believe I’ve arrived in life. I still feel unreal. “
It’s the fourth high profile shoot in the Memphis area in the past two months. Others include a school shootout where a 13-year-old student wounded a classmate, the fatal shooting of two postal workers by a third postal worker who then killed himself, and a mass shooting at a Kroger grocery store in the suburb of Collierville that did the Land left two dead, including the shooter, and more than a dozen injured.
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Pearson reported from Los Angeles. Associated Press Writer Joshua Housing in Munster, Indiana; Kristin M. Hall of Nashville, Tennessee contributed to this report.
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