St. Louis Rapper Huey Killed in Shooting
St. Louis rapper Huey was shot and killed outside his hometown on Thursday. He was 32.
The “Pop, Lock & Drop It” hitmaker, whose real name was Lawrence Franks Jr., was shot at least once during a double shooting in the city of Kinloch, Missouri, police said Friday. He was pronounced dead after being taken to a local hospital around 11 p.m. Thursday.
A second man, 21, was also wounded in the shooting and is expected to survive with non-life-threatening injuries. He showed up at the Ferguson Police Department and was taken to a nearby hospital.
Investigators say as many as 10 people were “present in and around the crime scene” at the time of the shooting. Police have made no arrests at this time.
Huey was originally signed to Jive Records and is best known for his debut single “Pop, Lock & Drop It,” which peaked at No. 6 on the Billboard Hot 100 in 2007. He is survived by his 13-year-old daughter, who he often posted about on social media.
According to Huey’s Instagram, he was planning to shoot a music video Saturday for his new single “Lap Dance.”
Fans and friends paid tribute to the late rapper with touching messages. “My lil cousin! Rest Easy! This shit us hard man!” tweeted former state Rep. Bruce Franks Jr.
St. Louis-based producer and songwriter Jaylien Wesley also mourned the tragic loss: “my dawg Huey is gone forever. thank you for the talk, thank you for your energy, thank you for believing in me. Ima help keep your spirit alive down here. much much love forever.”
Music executive William “Quayshaun” Carter, who worked with Huey in the 2010s, celebrated his legacy. “He was a good kid. He was raised on the streets and he chose to do something different. He’d just started another business—he was getting into upscale clothing, and it was working out, and he was happy,” he told Pitchfork. “His passing is a tragic loss to the hip-hop world. He was a part of hip-hop history.”
The last time we performed together! Y’all knew him as Huey, to his loved ones he was LJ! My lil cousin! Rest Easy! This shit us hard man!😢 pic.twitter.com/Vq16Ju944U
— Bruce Franks Jr (@brucefranksjr) June 26, 2020
shed a few , my dawg Huey is gone forever. thank you for the talk, thank you for your energy, thank you for believing in me. Ima help keep your spirit alive down here. much much love forever. pic.twitter.com/18S62VBvbW
— J∆YLIEN (@jaylienwesley) June 26, 2020