RAPPER YOUNG DOLPH SHOT TO DEATH AT MEMPHIS COOKIE SHOP
MEMPHIS, Tenn. — Rapper Young Dolph, widely admired in the hip-hop community for his authenticity and fierce independence, was shot and killed Wednesday at a cookie shop in his hometown of Memphis, Tennessee, authorities said.
Police tweeted that they had no information to release about a possible suspect in the shooting, which took place at Makeda’s Cookies near Memphis International Airport.
“The tragic shooting death of rap artist Young Dolph serves as another reminder of the pain that violent crime brings with it,” Memphis Mayor Jim Strickland said in a statement.
The Daily Memphian newspaper reported that Young Dolph’s cousin, Mareno Myers, said the 36-year-old rapper had been in town since Monday visiting an aunt who has cancer and was also giving out Thanksgiving turkeys.
“He was inside [Makeda’s], and somebody just rolled up on him and took his life,” Myers said.
Just last week, the cookie shop posted a video on Instagram of the rapper promoting the store’s cookies, saying he returns to the store whenever he is in Memphis.
Like the Los Angeles rapper Nipsey Hussle, who was killed in 2019, Young Dolph pursued an independent approach to the music business. His Paper Route Empire label retained control over his music. “I just got another vision for it — strictly 100 percent ownership,” he said in 2018 mini-documentary co-produced by his label, titled “Turned Dirt Into Diamonds.” “A lot of people, they can’t see what I see.”
“God bless Dolph,” tweeted Chance the Rapper. “Real independent Memphis rapper born in chicago. loved by millions of ppl.”
Born in Chicago as Adolph Thornton Jr., he moved to Memphis when he was 2, according to The Commercial Appeal. He said in the documentary that he’d been raised by his grandmother and tried to help his parents “clean their life up” once he found success.
He released numerous mixtapes, starting with 2008’s “Paper Route Campaign,” and multiple studio albums, including his 2016 debut “King of Memphis.” He also collaborated on other mixtapes and albums with fellow rappers Key Glock, Megan Thee Stallion, T.I., Gucci Mane, 2 Chainz and others.
In his music, Young Dolph rapped about being a drug dealer and life on the streets in Memphis. He recently performed at a concert at the University of Memphis and has performed during the halftime of a Memphis Grizzlies game.
Young Dolph considered himself a workaholic and in recent years was focused on growing his business. “I’m a CEO first, then an artist,” he told the writer Gary Suarez in a 2020 interview for Forbes, saying he’d strategically held off on signing with a major label. “As long as I keep going up and keep working, my value is going to increase.”
“I know what the streets want to hear, I know what the street’s going through, the lingo, the fashion, everything. It ain’t nothing; it’s my real life,” he told Suarez.
Young Dolph had survived previous shootings. He was shot multiple times in September 2017 after a fight outside a Los Angeles hotel. In February of that year, his SUV was shot at in Charlotte, North Carolina, more than 100 times. 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.