Young Dolph dead at 36: Rapper's career was marked by chart successes and charity efforts
Memphis rapper Young Dolph was shot and killed in Memphis on Wednesday, according to Memphis police.
The hip-hop artist, Paper Route Empire label head and self-proclaimed "King of Memphis" was shot inside the Makeda's Cookies on Airways Boulevard.
Dolph — whose real name is Adolph Robert Thornton Jr. — was 36.
Earlier this week, Dolph and his Paper Route Empire record label and IdaMae Family Foundation had launched a holiday campaign to give away food and clothes to needy families in the Memphis area.
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On Monday, Dolph made an appearance at West Cancer Center in Germantown along with fellow rapper Key Glock. The charity stops had been scheduled to take place throughout the city this week with various artists on Dolph’s label, including a planned event at the Charles E. Powell Westwood Community Center on Wednesday afternoon.
The news of Dolph’s death quickly swept across social media on Wednesday.
Hip-hop journalist Jeff Weiss memorialized Dolph on Twitter, hailing him as the "Memphis people's champ--the answer to what if the Delta Blues was rap and funny," wrote Weiss. "An antihero whose hysterical punchlines and flashiness often overshadowed a deep conscience, introspection, generosity and dedication to building an independent empire. A legend."
Dolph's friend, football legend Deion Sanders, also took to Twitter. Calling Dolph "my brother and a man dear to my sons." Sanders lamented the rapper's violent end. "Lord help us as a people stop the hate, the violence and the hopelessness," he wrote. "When we realize we matter others will as well. Lord help us right now."
Rapper Gucci Mane — who had collaborated with Young Dolph — simply wrote "R. I. P. to my friend Dolph this broke my heart."
Young Dolph's chart success
Born in Chicago, Dolph moved to Memphis as an infant. He launched his career with a series of mixtapes beginning in 2008. In recent years, Dolph had moved up the hip-hop ranks and Billboard charts, starting in 2016 with Gold-certified hits like "Play With Yo B****" and "100 Shots," while his latest album, 2020's "Rich Slave," peaked at No. 3 on the Billboard charts.
In addition to his solo work, Dolph had teamed up with fellow Memphis rapper Key Glock for a pair of hit "Dum and Dummer" albums in 2019 and 2021, and he had been featured on a range of tracks by the likes of O.T. Genasis, Gucci Mane and Lil Durk, among others.
Ultimately, Dolph would go on to build his own hip-hop empire independently, as he established himself as solo act and head of his own company, Paper Route Empire.
Along with Key Glock — who is Dolph's cousin by marriage — other signings to the label have included Memphis rappers Snupe Bandz, Paper Route Woo and Big Moochie Grape.
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2017 shooting incidents
Dolph's career had been accompanied by several instances of violence. In 2017, he was shot on two separate occasions in North Carolina and in Los Angeles. The much-publicized incidents were rumored to have been the result of a feud between Dolph and fellow Memphis rap kingpin Yo Gotti. Gotti — real name is Mario Mims — was never charged or sought in connection with the shootings.
In February 2017, Dolph was fired at in Charlotte, North Carolina. Gotti associate, Blac Youngsta (real name, Sammie Benson), was among the men charged in that incident.
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In September 2017, Dolph was again shot in Los Angeles outside the Lowes Hollywood hotel. At the time, the Los Angeles Police Department has denied that Gotti — who was staying at the same hotel as Dolph — was a person of interest in the investigation.
The roots of the Dolph/Gotti feud likely began in 2014, when Dolph — then just emerging as a formidable mixtape artist — began saying publicly that he'd turned down an offer to join Gotti's CMG record label. In 2016, Dolph again alluded to Gotti and his decision not to sign to his CMG label on Twitter. He subsequently released his full-length debut, "The King of Memphis." The title alone was incendiary, seen as a direct challenge to Gotti's claim on that position.
This article originally appeared on Memphis Commercial Appeal: Young Dolph shot and killed in Memphis: A look at rapper's career
