“Club 21”: why rappers die young

Drugs and gang feuds are the main reasons rappers die young.

We look at several recent cases of young rappers dying.

Juice Wrld

On December 2 this year the rapper turned 21. But just six days later he died. The musician was flying from California to Chicago on his own plane. After landing he felt unwell and died. Police later reported that he had suffered a seizure and was bleeding from the mouth. While he was being taken to hospital he was still conscious. Doctors even managed to give him two injections of the Narcan antidote, used in opioid overdoses, but it did not save the musician.

Later it became known that he had felt ill after weapons and drugs were found and seized on his plane. Police had been waiting for the rapper’s flight, having received a tip that contraband was on board. 

The cause of Juice Wrld’s death remains unknown. Forensic experts did carry out a preliminary autopsy, but said that additional tests were required. 

According to the rapper’s girlfriend, who was flying with him, Juice Wrld took the opioid painkiller Percocet and had drug problems. 

XXXTentacion

One of the most talented rappers of his generation died at 20. On June 18, 2018, he was leaving a motorcycle shop in Miami. Two men approached him, got into his car after a brief scuffle, stole his bag and shot the rapper several times. 

The musician fell into a coma and died in hospital without regaining consciousness. Two days later, suspect Dedrick Devonshay Williams of Pompano Beach was arrested. He was charged with first-degree murder and sent to prison. Later, three other people were arrested as part of the murder investigation. Premeditated murder is the main line of the investigation, although at first it seemed to be a robbery that had gotten out of control. 

Lil Peep 

One of the ideologists of emo rap died at 21. The musician died on November 15, 2017 from an overdose of expired drugs. According to the official version, the cause of death was an accidental overdose of fentanyl and Xanax. 

At the time the rapper was on tour in support of his album Come Over When You’re Sober. With one day left until the end of the tour, the musician was in Tucson, Arizona, in his tour bus, and took “Xanax” there, which he had been given by his fan Mariah Bons, as it later emerged.

Incidentally, that evening the musician’s friend and colleague Bexey was live streaming on Instagram. “Peep is probably at the back of the bus doing push-ups and squats, looking at his muscles. I’ll go and see,” he said, and later showed the rapper himself, lying there completely pale with his mouth open. Bexey got scared, said “Oh” and immediately cut the broadcast.  

Mac Miller 

The oldest rapper on the list died at 26. The cause of death was a drug overdose. Around noon on September 7, 2018, he was found by a friend at his home. That day Miller was due to shoot a new music video. 

Later the Los Angeles Police Department announced that the musician died from an accidental drug overdose caused by “mixed drug toxicity” from fentanyl, alcohol and cocaine. 

A$AP Yams 

In early 2015, the 26-year-old founder of the A$AP Mob collective, Steven A$AP Yams Rodriguez, was found dead in his apartment. 

He also died from a drug overdose, specifically codeine — a drug drink made by mixing codeine cough syrup with Sprite soda. 

How rappers died in the 1990s 

In 1996, one of the most influential rappers in history, Tupac Shakur, died. The musician was riding in a car with his manager after a Mike Tyson fight. Another car pulled up alongside them and opened fire on Tupac. He was hit four times. The rapper later died in hospital. 

The exact reason for the rapper’s murder remains unknown. In 2002 the Los Angeles Times published an investigation stating that Shakur’s killer was Orlando Anderson, who had been beaten by Shakur’s entourage on the day of the shooting and was seeking revenge on the rapper. Incidentally, Anderson himself was killed two years later in a shootout. 

The following year, 1997, six months after Tupac’s death, the 24-year-old rapper The Notorious B.I.G. was shot dead in a car in Los Angeles. According to the investigation, it was revenge for Tupac’s murder, since Biggie was considered to have ordered Shakur’s killing. However, no evidence of this was ever found. This case also remains unsolved. 

Rapper Big L was killed in 1999 (aged 24) during a car shootout in Harlem. At first, his childhood friend, rapper Gerard Woodley, was arrested on suspicion of the crime, but police found no evidence of his guilt. Just six months later, Woodley himself was also shot dead in Harlem.

Alexey Simonchuk