The music community mourns the loss of Adolph Robert Thornton Jr. — known publicly as Young Dolph — after the artist was shot and killed midday Wednesday inside Makeda’s Cookies shop in Memphis, Tennessee.
The thirty-six-year-old was reportedly in town to visit family, and the local bakery was a frequent stop for the local trailblazer on trips back to the city. The heartbreaking news was received on Twitter through cell-phone videos of the crime scene minutes after the gunfire.
The horrible news hits the rap world even heavier when Dolph’s home and community involvement is taken into consideration. The Memphis icon was well-known for his commitment to charity in his area. In fact, a week prior to Wednesday’s events, Dolph, his protege Key Glock and their label, Paper Route Empire, had begun a citywide holiday campaign, pledging food and clothing to needy families. Simply put, Dolph helped where he could in an unconditional manner.
At Rolling Loud earlier this year, Dolph pledged $20,000 to a pair of baristas at Duke University who were fired for playing his record, “Get Paid,” during store hours. Last year, Dolph gifted his $400,000 Lamborghini to a superfan whose nail business suffered tremendously due to the pandemic. When she became pregnant and sold the supercar for financial reasons, Dolph responded, “get paid!” Dolph leaves behind his wife and two young children.
There’s a laundry list of compassionate acts by the rapper, but his influence on modern music came most notably in his firm stance as an indie role model. Early in his career, Dolph backed out of several major label deals, instead opting to embrace the solo track — a path that led to numerous Billboard chart positions and the ability to invest and contribute with his own dollar. Young Dolph bet on himself, won outright, and gave back whenever possible.
The King of Memphis will be sorely missed.
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