2020 is another white hot year for hip hop, but we've already seen a number of lives of
rap stars end too soon this year.
Whether household names or rising stars through Soundcloud and Youtube, these are the rappers
we've lost in 2020.
On Jan. 1, 2020, rapper Lexii Alijai was found dead in a downtown Minneapolis hotel room,
The Star Tribune reports.
She was 21.
Less than a month later, the Hennepin County Medical Examiner's Office revealed that she
passed away due to an accidental overdose of drugs and alcohol.
A press release stated,
"This individual died due to mixed fentanyl and ethanol toxicity."
The rap artist, whose real name was Alexis Alijai Lynch, was an ascendant star with over
100,000 SoundCloud streams and was also featured on the song "Jealous" from Kehlani's 2015
Grammy-nominated album, You Should Be Here.
"She heard my music, somehow, and she sent me that 'Jealous' record."
"Yeah."
"And I just wrote it; actually, I wrote it during lunchtime."
Mourning the loss on Twitter, Kehlani called the news "the weakest saddest way to start
a new year."
She added,
"I'm off this happy new year please please please please be safe out here love on your
people please."
Jessica Owen, Lexii Alijai's mother, told The Star Tribune that the young rapper was
scheduled to work in the studio on the day of her passing and had planned some upcoming
releases, including a collaboration with Wale and a new album.
5th Ward Weebie, a pioneer of New Orleans bounce music, passed away on January 9, due
to complications from surgery for a ruptured artery, The Times-Picayune reports.
He was 42.
In addition to an appearance on Drake's 2018 hit "Nice for What," Weebie, real name Jerome
Cosey, was a local legend with songs like 2005's "F--- Katrina" and 2014's "Let Me Find
Out."
"For those unaware, let 'em know who you are, man."
"It's your homie 5th Ward Weebie, man.
New Orleans' own."
An artist in the city's hip-hop subgenre "bounce music" starting in the late '90s, the rapper-dancer's
death was mourned by fellow rappers Snoop Dogg and Lil Wayne, as well as City Hall.
Saying that his passing, quote, "broke [her] heart," New Orleans Mayor LaToya Cantrell
wrote in an emotional Instagram post:
"He was an iconic personality, a New Orleans legend and a beloved friend.
He was the bounce king who showed us how to move, how to love and how to bring passion
and humanity to everything we do.
New Orleans has lost a cornerstone of our culture.
Our city will not be the same without his voice and his spirit."
Meanwhile, Louisiana Rep. Cedric Richmond said Weebie, quote, "embodied the soul of
New Orleans" in an official statement.
He continued,
"A legend gone far too soon, I'm grateful his legacy will be ingrained in New Orleans
culture for years to come.
I offer my support and condolences to Jerome's family during this difficult time."
Rapper Tre Koast, real name Luc Treadwell, was killed in a shooting while parked on his
family's street in North Phoenix, Arizona on Jan. 17, 2020, Fox 10 reports.
He was 21.
The up-and-coming rap artist's body was found inside his Dodge Charger, which had been,
quote, "riddled with bullets."
Police were quoted as saying, "someone [fired] between 20 and 30 rounds" inside the vehicle,
and "an SUV was seen chasing" the rapper's car.
A day after his death, Arizona's ABC 15 reported that no suspects had been identified.
The young rapper had released three lead singles in 2019: "This Year," "Safe Around," and "Got
It in Send It Out."
Most recently, he was featured on SoundCloud rapper Ki's "Gifted" that September.
When asked for a comment on Tre Koast's untimely passing, the rapper's father told Fox 10,
"I'm not even ready for a memorial.
I'm not ready to make any kind of statement.
I'm sorry."
Meanwhile, Kennedy Bennett, Tre Koast's girlfriend of nearly two years, told ABC 15,
"Lucious was the love of my life, he was my best friend, he was my go-to.
Music was his motivation, being in the studio was like his safe haven."
Rapper Dee Dave was fatally shot outside an apartment building in Baltimore, Maryland
on January 24, 2020, The Baltimore Sun reports.
He was 29.
Dee Dave, who's real name was David Leroy King Jr., is survived by his girlfriend and
10-year-old son.
During an interview with Stop the Breaks in 2014, the late rap artist, whose most recent
music release was "No More Humble" in December 2019, listed the likes of J. Cole, Drake,
Dom Kennedy, Kendrick Lamar, Wiz Khalifa, Jay-Z, Jadakiss, Currency, and Joey Badass
as rap artists who, quote, "make great music" and help him "with ideas."
"Shout out to all the supporters, all the fans, everybody who's showing love.
We're trying to do it bigger than the city, man, and do it for the city."
However, he revealed that he felt like,
"Hip-hop ain't breathing the right way.
It's on life support...so much garbage music being polluted."
Having also worked as a Baltimore Gas & Electric contractor, the rapper had been planning to
head out to Atlanta mere hours after his untimely death to play a promising show, his family
explained to The Baltimore Sun.
Dee Dave's cousin, Antwan Askia emphasized to CBS Baltimore,
"He had a rap career, on top of working a full-time job, on top of being a father.
I don't know what's happening right now.
I just got a call at six in the morning saying my cousin was gone."
Washington, D.C. rapper Big Booda, real name Donelle Hodges, was shot and killed while
sitting in a vehicle on Feb. 1, 2020, Fox 5 reports.
According to police, the rapper later died at a nearby hospital.
Big Booda, whose death comes just months after the loss of his mother, was 24 and is survived
by his one-year-old son.
With an impressive local following, Big Booda's untimely passing came shortly after his fourth
mixtape, Slide 2, dropped in late 2019.
According to one of his associates, Big Booda "truly wanted to get his life right and leave
the area."
Mourning his friend and business partner's death on Instagram, Rundown Shard criticized
the senseless violence in the D.C. area, saying,
"Unfortunately this morning I got the call I lost my good man [and] business partner
BOODA!
At one point in time I used to be proud to say I was from [Southeast, D.C.]!
I no longer am...I have been blessed to survive and punished at the [same] time to watch one
single area and also a city rob me of 90 [percent] of the people I grew up with and loved."
Brooklyn-born rapper Pop Smoke died in the early morning hours of Feb. 19, 2020, after
being shot in the Hollywood Hills, Calif. home he'd reportedly rented, TMZ reported.
He was 20.
"Does it still feel weird to you, like, being in this life where people knowing you and
other artists kinda like jumping on your songs?"
"No, it ain't weird."
"It's what it's supposed to be?"
"Yeah."
According to law enforcement sources cited by the publication, the artist, real name
Bashar Barakah Jackson, had been attending a party when, quote, "[two] men wearing hoodies
and masks broke into a house [and] fired multiple shots" in a possible robbery, before fleeing
the scene.
Pop Smoke was pronounced deceased at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center.
Per The Los Angeles Times,
"[His] death came days after his second mixtape, Meet the Woo 2, landed at No. 7 on the Billboard
Top 200 list."
This was a sequel to his breakthrough mixtape, 2019's Meet the Woo, which has garnered 280
million global streams and featured the rapper's hit, "Welcome to the Party."
It was later remixed with Nicki Minaj.
Many of rap's luminaries spoke out following Pop Smoke's untimely passing.
Chance the Rapper tweeted,
"Rest Up Pop Smoke, you were too young.
God Bless and comfort your family.
What a crazy trajectory you were on man, shaking my head."
Nicki Minaj wrote on Instagram,
"The Bible tells us that jealousy is as cruel as the grave.
Unbelievable.
Rest In Peace, Pop."
Chynna Rogers, a model and rising rap star out of Philadelphia, passed away to an accidental
drug overdose, Page Six reports.
She was 25.
Her family said in a statement, "Chynna was deeply loved and will be sorely missed."
According to Billboard, Rogers signed with Ford Models at age 14.
She then became friends with A$AP Mob founder A$AP Yams, who inspired her to pursue a career
in music.
The "Selfie" singer told the publication in 2017,
"I tweeted them pictures I took at the show.
I wanted to A&R and I was inspired by the way [A$AP Yams] went about molding [A$AP]
Rocky's career."
Rogers struggled with an opiate addiction that she examined on her 2016 mixtape Ninety.
"Yeah, there was a good point in time where I was just like lost in sauce.
I was just getting high and, like, not focused on what I set out to do."
She also discussed her drug dependency with Vibe in 2018, saying,
"I felt crazy.
I didn't want to be a statistic.
I didn't want to go out that way and people be like, 'I told you so,' or glamorize [drugs]
because I don't feel like that.
It was nerve-wracking to be open, but when you see how many more people who are dealing
with the same thing, it's good to have some kind of example of someone you didn't expect
to be going through it."
If you or someone you know is struggling with addiction, please call the Substance Abuse
and Mental Health Administration's 24/7 National Helpline at 1-800-662-HELP.