Rapper Young Dolph Shot Dead at Tennessee Cookie Shop

Rapper Young Dolph Shot Dead at Tennessee Cookie Shop

Rapper Young Dolph was shot and killed on Wednesday at a cookie shop in his hometown of Memphis, Tennessee, USA.

Newera News gathered that yet to be identified gunmen shot severally at Mr. Young killing him at the cookie shop.

The Police authorities said Rapper Young Dolph was shot and killed on Wednesday at a cookie shop in his hometown of Memphis, Tennessee.

Young is widely admired in the hip-hop community for his authenticity and fierce independence.

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.

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 per cent ownership,” he said in a 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.

Young Dolph had three albums reach the top 10 on the Billboard 200, with 2020’s “Rich Slave” peaking at No. 4.

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. He was admired in Memphis as a torchbearer of the city’s rap legends, Three 6 Mafia.

Rapper Young Dolph Shot Dead at Tennessee Cookie Shop

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.

Memphis officials, athletes and numerous members of the music industry posted their condolences on social media.

“R.I.P. to my friend Dolph this broke my heart,” Gucci Mane posted on Twitter.

The rapper’s talent agency, APA, said it was shocked and saddened by his death.

“The world has lost an icon, a great man and beloved artist who has been taken too soon,” the agency said in a statement. “His dedication, drive, hard work and loyalty to all those around him always came first and he will be deeply missed.”

In a post on his Twitter account on Oct. 20, Young Dolph said a doctor told him he needed some time to himself.

”I never knew what anxiety meant until My doctor just explained to me that I have it this morning,” another tweet posted that day said.

In an August tweet, he said: “Still can’t believe i got to where im at in life. still feel unreal.”

It is the fourth high-profile shooting in the Memphis area in the past two months. Others include a school shooting in which a 13-year-old student wounded a classmate, the fatal shooting of two postal employees by a third postal worker who then killed himself, and a mass shooting at a Kroger grocery store in the Collierville suburb that left two people dead, including the shooter, and more than a dozen wounded.

Pearson reported from Los Angeles. Associated Press writers Joshua Housing in Munster, Indiana; Kristin M. Hall in Nashville, Tennessee contributed to this report.

Adolph Robert Thornton, Jr., better known by his stage name Young Dolph, was an American rapper. In 2016, he released his debut studio album, King of Memphis, which peaked at number 49 on the Billboard 200 chart. He was featured on O.T. Genasis’ hit single “Cut It”, which peaked at number 35 on the Billboard Hot 100.

He was Born on 27th July 1985 in  Chicago, Illinois, United States and he is survived by his children, Tre Tre Thornton, Aria Ella Thornton

Memphis rapper and Billboard Top 10 artist Young Dolph died at a local cookie shop after being fatally shot on Wednesday, November 17, 2021