When Young Dolph died in a Memphis bakery in November, his autopsy revealed that he had been shot 22 times. According to the postmortem findings released by WHBQ-TV through News Reporters, the late rapper was shot in the left chest, left belly, right jaw, right neck, right shoulder, both arms, and many times in his back. “Preliminary information suggests that the victim is Adolph Robert Thornton, Jr,” Memphis police informed HollywoodLife. “This information will be validated after the identification procedure is done,” they stated. On Nov. 17, the music industry was once again in grief after the passing of Young Dolph. According to initial reports from FOX 13 Memphis’ Jeremy Pierre, the rapper, born Adolph Robert Thornton Jr., was shot and died in Memphis on Wednesday. He tweeted, “On the scene of a gunshot on Airways.” “I’m hearing that Memphis rapper Young Dolph was shot and killed. Makeda’s Cookies was the location of the filming.” According to TMZ, a video from the crime site shows Dolph’s vehicle sitting outside the establishment. Dolph, 36, “entered into the business, then a car came up, shooting through a front window and hitting the rapper,” according to the publication.
Three different law enforcement sources later verified to FOX13 that rapper Young Dolph was shot and died. Makeda’s Butter Cookies owner Maurice Hill verified to FOX13 that Young Dolph stepped in to buy cookies when someone drove up and tragically shot him. While supporters awaited official confirmation of his death, DJ Akademiks tweeted, “RIP Young Dolph,” implying that the worst had happened. At the time, no suspects had been revealed, and the investigation was still underway. Here’s all you need to know about Young Dolph as the world mourns his death.
Young Dolph Was A Rapper.
Young Dolph was born on July 27, 1985, and grew up in Memphis, Tennessee, where he became interested in hip hop. According to All Music, he had early local success with a series of mixtapes before breaking out nationally in 2014. King of Memphis, his debut album, was released in 2016 and debuted at No. 49 on the Billboard 200 albums list. Before his death, he would drop roughly twenty mixtapes and seven studio albums, including Bulletproof in 2017, Role Model in 2018, Dum & Dummer (a collaboration with Key Glock) in 2019, and Rich Slave in 2020. In March, he released Dum & Dummer 2, which will be his final non-posthumous record.
He Had A Feud With Yo Gotti.
Young Dolph’s most high-profile battle was with Yo Gotti, a fellow Memphis rapper. According to XXL’s history of their feud, Young Dolph turned down a record contract from Gotti in 2014. Dolph wanted to be in charge of his own destiny, so he founded the Paper Route Empire label. “[He] turned from being my #1 fan and wanted to sign me to becoming my BIGGEST HATER,” Dolph tweeted in 2016. Some saw Dolph’s King of Memphis album, released later that year, as a dig at Gotti. Dolph escalated the stakes in 2017 with “Play Wit Yo’ B-tch,” a diss tune directed at Yo Gotti, following some minor back and forth. Gotti originally took the high road, but in February 2017, he released “Don’t Beef Me With.” The answer tune didn’t specifically mention Dolph, but it was clear that it was a warning shot.
In February 2017, Dolph was engaged in a car accident in Charlotte, North Carolina. Over 100 shots were fired at his SUV, yet he was unharmed owing to the armoured car. Dolph had a less fortunate time in Hollywood a few months later. Outside of Shoe Place, he was shot and transported to the hospital. Despite reports that Gotti was a “person of interest,” the LAPD said he was not being investigated in connection with the killing. In September 2017, a Gotti associate was accused of attempted murder, but they were eventually freed without charges.
In connection with the alleged incident, no arrests have been made. Young Dolph appeared on The Breakfast Club in November 2017 to try to put the dispute behind him. “I’m tired of it,” he declared. “It’s a pathetic scenario.” Everything about the group of people. It doesn’t even fall within my category.”
Juice WRLD Was His Cousin.
Following Juice WRLD’s death in 2019, Young Dolph revealed he was linked to the “Lucid Dreams” singer in a long Instagram statement. According to The Source, he wrote, “The world didn’t know that [you] were my blood wee cousin.” “Sh-t, I didn’t even realize that till your uncle informed me over Thanksgiving dinner in 2017.” It’s killing me that I didn’t have a chance to [f-ck with you] the way I wanted to.” Dolph said he didn’t have a chance to “place my kid Cuzzo in da back of the RR and give him all the game I wanted to give him” or spend any more time with him. “To be honest, I didn’t care if we did any music together.” – implying that his last concern was to make music, he wanted to get to know Juice WRLD.
4. He Retired From Music In March 2021…
Following the release of his Dum & Dummer 2 mixtape, Young Dolph revealed on his Instagram page on March 29 that he was taking a break from music. “I hope you appreciate the new mixtape; it’s the final thing I’ll be releasing.” I wasn’t planning on telling you, but I figured you should know I’m done with music. According to XXL, he wrote, “ENJOY.” This wasn’t the first time he had considered retiring. He announced a year ago that he was considering retiring from the microphone to spend more time with his children.
5. …Only To Un-Retire Months Later.
He posted on Instagram soon before his album, Rich Slave, was out in August 2020, that “my son recently informed me I can’t be his dad if I stop putting out music.” In May 2020, he told GQ, “Man, my young child wants to hear some new music.” “So it was like, I can’t just play all my music around him, so I had to do a full project so I could get it clean, and have a clean version of all the songs just so he could listen to my music, you understand?”
In July 2021, he also came out of retirement.
“I’m sorry, but I’m not up to it.” According to Uproxx, he remarked, “I can’t do,” on an episode of DJ Scream’s and Big Bank’s Big Facts program. “It’s as if I’m the spokesman for all the street n****s and all the n—-s on some independent sh-t… And really put some sh-t in the game… The n—- who actually want to do this sh-t, but don’t want to be tied to any huge label—do it on their own. This sh*t is a business for me. I’m going to take that. The n—- that be like, “I’m going to do this my way.” I can’t disappoint those people. It’s as though I’m a motivation for them. They’re going to need it.”
