Violence in the hip-hop music community has been increasing at an alarming rate.
On Tuesday, Takeoff, a member of the rap group Migos, was pronounced dead following a shooting in Houston. Barely two months prior in September, PnB Rock died following a robbery at Roscoe’s Chicken & Waffles in Los Angeles. These events have left fans and industry professionals alike feeling shocked and despaired and searching to find answers to the recurring violence in the industry.
America is no stranger to senseless deaths within the hip-hop music community. One CNN report found that since 2018, at least one rapper every year has died from gun violence. In 2020, the New York-based drill rap artist Pop Smoke was shot and killed during a home invasion.
But why is it all happening, and when will it end?
Richard Parrott IV, a music journalist and a voting member for the Grammys, found out about the death of PnB Rock in “real time” through Twitter. He said the footage of the incident was already circulating almost immediately after the news broke.
“I got a text that he [PnB Rock] got shot. Unfortunately, that’s not uncommon anymore,” Parrott said. “I went on Twitter, and I saw a video of his last moments. I think people are very desensitized to serious issues now, and I think some of that might be the internet.”
New deaths within the hip-hop music industry have become more widespread and visible with social media apps. The explicit videos of the deaths of PnB Rock and Takeoff both circulated on Twitter, subjecting viewers to graphic and violent images.
A devout music enthusiast and artist himself, Parrott believes that social media not only influences the current state of hip-hop by spreading violent images, but it’s also influencing the way people view artists, and even the world through the narrow lens of the platforms.
“Present day, people look at artists not as real people, but as characters. People feel like they’re watching a drama,” he said.
This violence issue extends back to the origins of rap. In the 1990s, Tupac Shakur and the Notorious B.I.G. were caught in the crossfires of violence in the music industry and both lost their lives over it. Over the past several years, rap fans have also witnessed the deaths of industry icons such as Nipsey Hussle, Pop Smoke and Young Dolph.
Takeoff released an album just last week in collaboration with his uncle and bandmate Quavo under Motown Records and Quality Control Music. The project, “Only Built For Infinity Links,” follows a previous solo album by Takeoff called “The Last Rocket,” which hit No. 4 on the United States Billboard charts.
Jae Deal, a composer, arranger, music producer and professor, described that violence in the hip-hop community has been around for some time now.
“You’ll see rappers like Snoop Dogg, Ice-T— people have been around for a long time denouncing gangster activity, violence, and say that was a part of their artistry early on,” Deal explained. “But now, they’ve evolved, and they can see a bigger picture. Then, they take younger rappers under their wing and mentor them.”
Deal and his colleague Sean Nye, a musicologist and a professor at USC’s Thornton School of Music, teach a class on hip-hop history and culture. Nye said he believes in fostering a greater conversation surrounding violence within the music industry, including gun violence, as well as substance abuse.
“[I’m trying to] build the conversation, the generational conversation about it… not just attacks and shootings, but the overdoses.” Nye said.
“The list is getting long,” he continued. “I also just worry for the mental well-being of fans, with the loss of artists like this. This occurred in the rock music community with the discussion of the “27 Club,” a term for the large number of artists who passed away at the age of 27. This had happened in rock and it was felt as a tragic kind of generational experience.”
Looking forward, members and fans of the hip-hop music community are still searching for solutions to violence in the industry, and they believe that healing begins within the community itself.
“I feel that a lot of the healing can come from the actual rappers in the community among themselves,” Deal said.