Rappers who have died recently include Young Dolph, Takeoff, Gangsta Boo, and more. This list contains some rappers who passed in 2021, 2022, and 2023.
Hip-Hop has never been exempt from tragedy, and despite only being fifty years old, the genre has been marred with many deaths.
From young rappers who passed before their time or older figures who still had a lot left to give, each and every death hits hard precisely because there was so much life yet to live.
For some reason, this decade has been marred with loss more than the last. Perhaps because Hip-Hop is bigger on a global scale now, or perhaps because rappers dying is gaining more attention on social media, but it seems like another passing appears on the news every other month.
However, this list is less about discussing their deaths and more about bringing attention to and paying respects to all the great rappers, young and old, we’ve lost in the last 3 years.
Rappers Who Died In 2021
Rappers who died in 2021 include DMX, Biz Markie, Young Dolph, and more. The new decade started off relentlessly.
If the passing of rappers had started becoming a hot topic around 2019 and 2020 with the death of rappers like Juice WRLD, Pop Smoke, and Nipsey Hussle, then 2021 marked when it started to seem like rappers passing was becoming an almost daily occurrence.
People started to take note around this time that many rappers, old and new, were losing their lives for a variety of reasons. Here are some of them:
DMX
DMX passed away on April 9, 2021, due to a substance-induced heart attack. The rapper was only 50 years old.
One of the most prominent artists on this list, DMX was seen as the second coming of 2pac back in his heyday in the early 2000s. Alongside acts like 50 Cent and Ja Rule, X was one of the reasons why Hip-Hop started becoming more mainstream and popular.
As the first artist to debut an album at the top of the Billboard 200 charts five times in a row, the rapper’s success spoke for itself. Over the entirety of his career, he sold over 74 million records worldwide and was known for his rough voice, and gritty persona, but for being a gentle-hearted person behind it all.
Though his mainstream appeal and popularity died down in the latter half of the 2000s through the 2010s, the rapper never lost his fame. DMX was and remains one of the most influential rappers of all time.
Biz Markie
Biz Markie passed away on July 16, 2021, due to complications from Type 2 diabetes. Markie was only 57 years old.
The rapper gained fame in the late 1980s through his hilarious narrative-driven songs, among which “Just a Friend” was the most popular. The song became a Top 40 hit in many countries and remains one of the most popular rap songs from the era.
Due to “Just a Friend’s” popularity and humor, Markie was dubbed the Clown Prince of Hip Hop, and though he never surpassed the success of that song, it earned him enough goodwill that the rapper remained in the good graces of the media and the industry throughout his life. The rapper kept performing on stage up until the late 2010s.
Sadly, the rapper was hospitalized in April 2020 for diabetes complications which would eventually take his life. The media erroneously reported his passing fifteen days earlier on July 1, but that news was quickly quelled by his representatives.
Young Dolph
Young Dolph passed away on November 17, 2021, due to gunshot wounds. The rapper was only 36 years old.
Though born in Chicago, Illinois, Dolph was a Southern rapper through and through he was raised in Memphis, Tennessee after moving there when he was two years old. The rapper was also related to another tragic figure in Hip-Hop, Juice WRLD, who was his second cousin.
The rapper started his career in the early 2010s and released over 22 mixtapes, 7 albums, 2 EPs, and over 37 singles throughout his career. Dolph’s 2020 album, Rich Slave, peaked at number 4 on the Billboard 200 and has been certified Gold by the Recording Industry Association of America.
Dolph’s death came as a result of a violent assault as he was fatally shot twenty-two times in his hometown of Memphis by two gunmen in a Mercedez-Benz. The motivations behind the murder are still unclear, and the trial will not take place until sometime next year.
Other Rappers Who Died In 2021
- Baby CEO – January 20, 2021
- Prince Marki Dee – February 18, 2021
- Black Rob – April 17, 2021
- Lil Loaded – May 31, 2021
- Shock G – April 22, 2021
- Indian Red Boy – July 17, 2021
- KTS Dre – July 13, 2021
- Chucky Thompson – August 9, 2021
- YNT Juan – August 10, 2021
- 12 O’Clock – August 12, 2021
- Emani 22 – October 11, 2021
- Gonzoe – July 29, 2021
- Yung Kece – October 31, 2021
- Slim 400 – December 8, 2021
- Kangol Kid – December 18, 2021
- Drakeo the Ruler – December 18, 2021
Related Post: 20 Most Famous Musicians Who Died Young
Rappers Who Died In 2022
Rappers who died in 2022 include Pnb Rock, Lil Keed, Takeoff, and more. 2022 saw a lot of young talents get snuffed.
Though it is hard to believe, 2022 saw more young and popular talent pass away than the previous years. From young legends to hit makers to up-and-comers, the number of young rappers dying was scary, to say the least.
PnB Rock
PnB Rock passed away on September 12, 2022, in a robbery gone wrong. The rapper was only 30 years old.
Rock gained fame in the mid-2010s through his crooning, auto-tune-drenched music, and for being a mix of a rapper and singer. The rapper gained mainstream fame through the release of his 2016 song Selfish, which reached all the way to number 51 on the Billboard Hot 100.
Over the course of his career, he released two studio albums called Catch These Vibes in 2017 and TrapStar Turnt PopStar in 2019. The former of these two projects led to Rock becoming a member of the 2017 XXL Freshman Class while the latter reached within the top five of the Billboard 200 albums charts.
Sadly, in September, Rock was robbed and killed when he was at Roscoe’s House when he was there with his partner, Stephanie Sibounheuang, with whom he has a daughter. The rapper was shot fatally when he was trying to save Stephanie by throwing her under a table for her protection.
Lil Keed
Lil Keed passed away on May 13, 2022, due to eosinophilia. Keed was only 24 years old.
Keed started his career in 2016 but only gained fame in mid-2018 after releasing a song called Slatt Rock from his Trapped on Cleveland 2 mixtape. Through the success of that single and its parent mixtape, the rapper started getting known in his hometown Atlanta, which is also the home and base of some of the biggest rappers working today like Lil Uzi Vert and 21 Savage.
The rapper started working with many of these rappers and eventually got signed to Atlanta legend, Young Thug’s Young Stoner Life, or YSL records. Keed was touted as the successor to Thug due to their similar styles and because Keed was the second most successful artist after Thug on the label.
Sadly, the rapper passed away right when most of his label mates were in jail due to a RICO charge against Thug. Keed’s death shocked the world due to his youth and because it spelled trouble for YSL’s future.
Takeoff
Takeoff passed away on November 1, 2022, due to fatal gunshot wounds. The rapper was only 28 years old.
Takeoff gained fame in the mid-2010s through his role in the Atlanta Trap group Migos alongside his uncle, Quavo, and cousin, Offset. The group became popular not only for producing some of the biggest hits of the decade but for popularizing a style of rapping that utilized the triplet flow.
The rapper was often seen as the most underrated rapper within the group, and for some, the most talented. While Offset was known for his raps and Quavo was known for his hooks, Takeoff was touted as the one who brought it all together, and has been described as the Migos’s secret weapon.
Though the Migos had taken a hiatus in the early 2020s, Takeoff had only recently released a collab album with his uncle, Quavo. The two were together at a dice game when things got violent, and Takeoff passed away after being shot three times.
Other Rappers Who Died In 2022
- Snootie Wild – Feburary 25, 2022
- DJ Kay Slay – April 17, 2022
- Trouble – June 5, 2022
- Pat Stay – September 4, 2022
- Lotta Cash Desto – September 24, 2022
- Coolio – September 28, 2022
- Tame One – November 6, 2022
- Hurricane G – November 6, 2022
- Grand Daddy I.U. – December 13, 2022
- Big Scarr – December 22, 2022
Rappers Who Died In 2023
Rappers who died in 2023 include David Jolicoeur, Gangsta Boo, and AKA. Even though it’s only March, there have already been some deaths.
The deaths that have occurred this year happened to some very recognizable figures in Hip-Hop, and as such have already started a conversation surrounding it. Here are some of the rappers who have passed away this year.
David Jolicoeur
David Jolicoeur passed away on February 12, 2023, due to undisclosed reasons. However, he had been suffering from heart failure for a year.
The rapper was 54 years old at the time of passing and had been active since 1988 as a member of one of the most decorated groups in Hip-Hop history, De La Soul. As Trugoy, Jolicoeur created nine albums with the acclaimed group.
Aside from his work with De La Soul, Jolicoeur is also responsible for co-writing and rapping in one of the most iconic songs of the 2000s, Feel Good Inc. by Gorillaz. The song won the rapper a Grammy Award for Best Pop Collaboration with Vocals back in 2006.
As stated above, the rapper had revealed that he had been diagnosed with congestive heart failure during the last year of his life, and had to even wear a LifeVest defibrillator machine just to be able to function. Due to these issues, the rapper could no longer perform, and when the group rapped during a special performance at the 65th Grammy Awards, Jolicoeur was absent.
Gangsta Boo
Gangsta Boo passed away on January 1, 2023, due to an alleged overdose. The rapper was only 43 years old.
Though the rapper had been rapping since she was 14 years old, she gained fame by joining the influential and respected Southern rap group, Three 6 Mafia, alongside DJ Paul, Koopsta Knicca, Crunchy Black, Lord Infamous, and Juicy J. The rapper was involved with the group from their debut album Mystic Styles in 1995 all the way up to their sixth album, Choices: The Album, in 2001.
Boo had already started releasing solo music in 1998 with Enquiring Minds and would go on to release two more albums in 2001 and 2003. However, the rapper would spend most of her career collaborating with other artists like Eminem, Run the Jewels, and most prominently, La Chat, with whom she released her most recent project Witch, in 2014.
The rapper’s passing shocked the world, especially because it happened right at the beginning of the year. Though foul play was suspected, it has since been ruled out.
AKA
AKA passed away on February 10, 2023, due to a gunshot wound. The South African rapper was only 35 years old.
The rapper gained fame in the early 2010s through the release of his debut album, Altar Ego, in 2011, and especially the single, Victory Lap, within it. The album and his subsequent discography led to the rapper becoming one of the most popular musicians in South Africa and the biggest-selling hip-hop act from the country of all time.
Over the course of his career, the rapper released four solo albums, one collaborative album with Anatii, two EPS, and over 14 singles. The most recent album in his discovery, MAS COUNTRY, came out 14 days after his passing, on February 24, 2023.
The rapper’s death occurred outside Wish, a restaurant in Durban, when two gunmen, a hooded figure and his accomplice, shot AKA and his friend, Tebello Motsoane. The hooded figure ran up to and shot AKA in the head, while the accomplice shot and killed Motsoane from the car.