An up-and-coming rap artist from Atlanta died over the weekend, and police there say it appears he was the targeted victim of a shooting. Per NBC News, Rudolph Johnson (stage name: Lil Marlo) was confirmed dead by the Fulton County Medical Examiner's Office on Sunday morning, with a cause of death still to be determined. He was believed to be in his late 20s or early 30s. Cops say they received a call Saturday night around 11:30pm that there was a car accident on Interstate 285 in the city's downtown area, but when they arrived on the scene, they found the person inside the car—later identified as Johnson—had been shot, likely while driving, Time reports. "At this time, investigators believe the victim was the intended target of the gunfire and they are working to determine the circumstances surrounding the shooting," a police official tells TMZ.
Distressed reaction in the hip-hop community soon emerged. Quality Control Music, Johnson's music label, posted on social media that Johnson was "a man of great talent ... who feared nothing." Rapper Lil Yachty, who's also part of the QCM family, posted on Instagram that "we just did a song a 4 this morning smh rip brother." And from Meek Mill on Twitter: "Rip lil Marlo prayers to his family!" One of Johnson's final Instagram posts was on Father's Day, when he posted a video and photos of his kids, along with the message, "Thanks For Making Me Y'all Father I Wouldn't Trade Y'all For Da World." Here's a track off of Johnson's latest album, 1st and 3rd, released earlier this year. (More rapper stories.)
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