November 22, 2022

In 1987, rapper and father Scott La Rock was shot and killed in New York City. He was involved in a shootout involving four other individuals in a Jeep CJ-7. La Rock was shot in the head and died in the operating room, making him the first known rapper to be shot and killed.

Nine years later, Tupac Shakur was shot and killed in his own car at a stoplight in Las Vegas, Nevada. He became the seventh rapper to be shot and killed in the span of nine years—with only two happening in the same year.

While Tupac was rapping, he was underneath producer Suge Knight, who was a central figure in the gangster rap industry. Though Knight has had many enemies, he has also had good relationships with stars under his wing like Dr. Dre, Snoop Dogg, Tupac, MC Hammer and Lisa Lopez (Left Eye from TLC). Under Knight, however, two were shot and two are dead (out of the five rappers listed). Knight himself is imprisoned due to an altercation that went fatal.

While Death Row has a reputation as one of the most ‘dangerous’ record labels, Empire Records has also had about the same amount of deaths under their name. Five rappers have been shot and killed, with each one being robbed afterward by the assailant. PNB Rock was killed and robbed at a brunch spot in South Los Angeles and XXXTentacion was shot, robbed and killed shopping for motorcycles.

In a 2022 Think Magazine article, writer Joe Bodia pointed out how many people speculate that Knight was involved in the murders of hip hop legends Tupac and Biggie Smalls.

In a 2016 USA Today article, the Entertain This! staff discusssed a number of theories about Tupac’s fate: He faked his own death; He’s hiding in Cuba; He’s being harbored by the government as a witness; Suge Knight and attorney David Kenner called for his death; Biggie Smalls was behind the shooting.

As for Empire records, there isn’t much evidence to confirm that all these killings are linked to one another. Most of these crimes ended up with the victims getting robbed then shot, either in their own home or in ‘safe’ public places. Because of this, all I can say for sure is that whoever has done this is following a “copycat” pattern.

The big question is why: Why are these rappers losing their lives? In my next column, I’ll be going deeper into this mystery.