Young Dolph death: Megan Thee Stallion leads tributes after Memphis shooting
Fans and fellow artists paid tribute to the fiercely independent rapper
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Rapper Young Dolph has died after being shot while visiting a cookie store in Memphis, according to police.
Memphis police said in a statement: “The preliminary information indicates that the victim is Adolph Robert Thornton, Jr,” but added “this information will be confirmed once the identification process has been completed.”
An eyewitness stated that the musician, who released his debut album, King of Memphis in 2016, was shot as he walked into Makeda’s Homemade Butter Cookies.
According to TMZ, a shot was fired through the window.
The rapper, who has collaborated with the likes of 2 Chainz, Megan Thee Stallion and Gucci Mane, is survived by two children.
Fans, fellow artists and friends have paid tribute to the fiercely independent artist.
The liveblog has now closed
What we know so far
Rapper Young Dolph, real name Adolph Robert Thornton, Jr., has reportedly been shot and killed during an incident in Memphis.
Details about what happened are still emerging but you can read a round up of all the latest developments from my colleague Sam Moore here.
Death reportedly confirmed by law enforcement officials
The death of Young Dolph was reportedly confirmed by “three independent law enforcement sources” to US news outlet Fox13.
An eyewitness at the scene, Maurice Hill – the owner of the shop where the shooting happened – also spoke to Fox13 about the incident.
He told the news outlet his employees at Makeda’s Butter Cookies had told him that the young rapper walked into the store to buy cookies. Someone then allegedly drove up and shot and killed him around 1 p.m. on Wednesday at the bakery, which is located in South Memphis.
The rapper’s Lamborghini could be sat in the parking lot of the bakery when news crews arrived.
You can see some images from the scene here:
Memphis Police confirm they’re dealing with a shooting incident
On Twitter, Memphis police confirmed that they were responding to a shooting incident at “2370 Airways”, which is the location of Makeda’s Butter Cookies where the incident was said to have taken place.
The tweet read: “Officers are on the scene of a shooting at 2370 Airways. One male victim was located and was pronounced dead. No suspect info is available at this time. The victim will be identified once the next of kin notification has been completed.”
At this time, no official confirmation as arrived as to the identity of the victim, which reports are saying are rapper Young Dolph.
Young Dolph had been a victim of previous shootings
Young Dolph had been a victim of shootings in the past.
Back in 2017, the rapper was hit by gun shots in Hollywood for which he required hospitalisation. He suffered three bullet wounds which needed surgery.
In the same year, his SUV was reportedly shot at over 100 times while he was in Charlotte, NC.
Fans lamenting the loss of a “hugely talented" rapper
While official confirmation has not yet come directly from the police themselves, three independent law enforcement officials have reportedly confirmed the death of Young Dolph to news outlet Fox13.
In the interim, fans online have been lamenting the loss of a “hugely talented” rapper.
Dolph, who had 4.4m followers on Instagram, released his debut studio album King of Memphis in 2016.
The album peaked at number 49 on the Billboard 200 chart. He followed up this with second album Rich Slave, which featured the single “RNB” with Megan Thee Stallion, in August 2020.
Dolph was crowned ‘The King of Memphis’ and went on to release collaborations with Gucci Mane and Migos; his feature on “Cut It” by O.T. Genasis was a global hit.
He also made minor headlines for the release of his mixtape Bulletproof, which was created in response to reports of his SUV being shot at 100 times in Charlotte, North Carolina in 2017.
Rapper opened up about being a target in 2018
Young Dolph spoke to The Guardian in 2018 about being a target for a shooting, just one year after he was shot outside a store.
“I’ve been targeted since I was 17, 18, 19,” he told the publication at the time. “I just knew that I was good.”
You can read that interview in full here.
Rapper opened up about being a target in 2018
Young Dolph spoke to The Guardian in 2018 about being a target for a shooting, just one year after he was shot outside a store.
“I’ve been targeted since I was 17, 18, 19,” he told the publication at the time. “I just knew that I was good.”
You can read that interview in full here.
Young Dolph’s cousin was Juice WRLD
Young Dolph’s cousin was Juice WRLD, who died of a drug overdose at the age of 21 on 8 December 8 2019.
You can read The Independent’s full obituary to Juice WRLD here.
Juice WRLD: Rising rap star whose heartfelt lyrics conquered the US charts
Renowned for his freestyle raps, he brought an emotional intensity to contemporary hip-hop
Here’s everything we know so far
Here’s everything we know so far about the incident today in Memphis, where rapper Young Dolph has reportedly been shot and killed.
Watch our video report here
You can also see a video report of everything we know so far about the rapper’s reported death here:
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