Rap and murder unfortunately aren’t strangers to one another. Rap music has witnessed the unnecessary murderings of Tupac Shakur, Christopher Wallace aka the Notorious B.I.G, and Nipsey Hussle, within the last thirty years.
On November 1st, 2022, Kirsnick Khari Ball, better known as Takeoff, one-third of the Grammy Award nominated hip hop group Migos, was murdered in Houston, Texas, at the age of 28. Writer Mark Savage, in his 2022 article for BBC News, “Migos Rapper Takeoff Killed by ‘Stray Bullet’, Record Label Claims”, writes, “the 28-year-old, Grammy-nominated musician died on Tuesday in a shooting at a bowling alley in Houston, Texas… the shooting took place at about 02:30 local time (07:30 GMT) on a balcony outside the 810 Billiards and Bowling Alley, where Takeoff had reportedly been playing dice with his uncle and bandmate, Quavo… Police said 40 to 50 guests had been at a private party when someone opened fire. When they arrived, officers said they found a large crowd and a man with a gunshot wound to the head or neck. He was pronounced dead at the scene.”
Takeoff had been known to the music community as a talented rapper, having scored numerous hits with the likes of other rappers including Nicki Minaj, Cardi B, and Drake. His murder sent shockwaves through both the Black community and the rap community, igniting a conversation surrounding the state and safety of Black rappers. New Orleans based rapper Boosie Badazz recently made headlines about his own opinions about the state of rap.
Badazz was recently profiled in the 2022 article for Hip-Hop Canada, “Boosie Badazz Speaks on Death of Takeoff: ‘This Rap Sh** Whack’”. “This rap shit whack, bro, I ain’t lying,” he said on Instagram Live, “We targets now bro. We used to be heroes, you know. This rap shit whack as hell. This rap shit wack bro. Everybody want us out of here. R.I.P. Takeoff… I don’t even want to be looked at as a no rapper no more. I’m an entrepreneur, man. This rapper shit whack. They don’t want rappers to live, bro. Everybody want our place and shit. We in danger right now, boy.. We used to be heroes.”
Did rappers used to be heroes? Have rappers become targets of violence and murder? When it comes to influence, it is impossible to acknowledge the impact hip hop culture has on generations young and old. In the near 50 year saga of hip-hop, it seems as though within the last four decades has gun violence become a recurring theme.
Regardless, the murder of Takeoff has woke up many rappers such as Boosie. This idea of rejecting the notion of a rapper begs the question of is it really rejection or reimagination?
