Rap star Young Dolph was killed today (November 17th) in Memphis, Tennessee.
The rapper pulled up to Makeda’s Butter Cookies in his Lamborghini with an unidentified associate. He was inside of the bakery buying cookies when an unknown gunman drove up and shot the rap star, killing him instantly.
Police are still attempting to figure out a motive for the deadly encounter. So far, the police have yet to identify suspects in the shooting as of press time. Today, hundreds of people gathered at Makeda’s Butter Cookies to witness the tragic scene.
Young Dolph jumped into the music business with his 2008 mixtape Paper Route Campaign.
As a solo artist, he dropped 19 critically acclaimed mixtapes. Dolph also dropped seven studio albums, including his most recent release Dumb and Dumber 2 with Key Glock.
Young Dolph was also a shrewd businessman. He was the CEO of his record label, Paper Route Empire, which included artists like Key Glock, Jay Fizzle, Big Moochie Grape, Kenny Muney, SnupenBandz, PaperRouteWoo, and Joddy Badass.
Unfortunately, violence played Young Dolph throughout his career, primarily due to a feud with fellow Memphis rapper Yo Gotti.
According to Dolph, the root of their dispute was Young Dolph’s refusal to sign with Yo Gotti’s CMG Records. After several subliminal disses back and forth, Young Dolph dissed Yo Gotti on the song “Play Wit Yo B####.”
Not long after the release of the diss track, in February of 2017, men associated with Yo Gotti opened fire on Young Dolph and Charlotte, North Carolina, during CIAA weekend.
Over 100 shots were fired at the rapper, but he escaped injury because he was in a bulletproof SUV. Young Dolph addressed the shooting in his second studio album, which was titled Bulletproof.
Yo Gotti’s artist, Blac Youngsta, and two other men were arrested and charged with six felony counts of discharging a weapon into occupied property and one count of conspiracy.
In September of 2017, a gunman opened fire on Young Dolph outside the Loew’s Hotel near Hollywood Boulevard and Highland Avenue.
A 43-year-old suspect named Corey McClendon was arrested on suspicion of attempted murder and was held on $1 million bail. However, McClendon was released the next day without being charged. An arrest was never made in the shooting.
Young Dolph was critically wounded, but he eventually recovered.
In October of 2018, an executive with CMG named Howard “Keon” Wright was sentenced to 10 to 14 years in prison after he admitted to shooting at Young Dolph during CIAA weekend.
The charges against Blac Youngsta were dropped in May of 2019 because there was no scientific evidence linking him to the shooting.