Sad news to pass along on Wednesday (November 17), as rapper Young Dolph was reportedly shot and killed in Memphis, according to local station FOX13. Born Adolph Robert Thornton, Jr., the musician was 36.
Via FOX13: “Maurice Hill, the owner of the shop where the shooting happened, Makeda’s Butter Cookies, told FOX13 his employees said Young Dolph, 36, walked into the store to buy cookies. Someone then drove up and then shot and killed him around 1 p.m. on Wednesday at the bakery in South Memphis.”
FOX13 notes that Dolph was a respected figure in the Memphis rap scene, “well known for handing out turkeys around Thanksgiving in Memphis, speaking to school children and donating money to his former high school Hamilton High School.”
Young Dolph released his debut album, King of Memphis, in 2016. It included the breakout hit “Get Paid.” He released several studio albums in the time since, perhaps most notably 2017’s Bulletproof and last year’s Rich Slave, which has racked u tens of millions of Spotify plays, as well as nearly two dozen mixtapes. Over the summer he dropped Paper Route Illuminati with Paper Route Empire, and his social media pages are full of recent videos and other releases.
More to come.
RIP.