The hip-hop community is mourning the death of rapper Drakeo the Ruler, who died after being stabbed multiple times at a Los Angeles music festival on Saturday night (Dec. 18).
Artists like Drake, Saweetie, Juicy J and many others took to social media on Sunday to pay their respects to the 28-year-old L.A. native. Drakeo, whose real name was Darrell Caldwell, passed away after being attacked during the the Once Upon a Time in LA concert at Banc of California and Exposition Park.
“Nah man this s— isn’t right for real wtf are we doing,” Drake wrote on his Instagram Story after learning about the tragic news. “Always picked my spirit up with your energy RIP Drakeo.”
With the potential to create a long-lasting legacy that cemented his own place in the West Coast’s lineage of rap greats, Drakeo had already released five musical projects since 2020. His most recent was a 17-track mixtape, titled The Truth Hurts, featuring Drake on the chilled-out song “Talk to Me.”
Saweetie also paid tribute to the late rapper, tweeting, “Man Drakeo was always hella cool & respectful. Prayers up for his family RIP The Ruler.”
Long Beach rapper-producer Joey Fatts shared an emotional reaction to Drakeo’s death on social media. “Drakeo was killed while working. Was there for a performance,” Fatts tweeted. “All these get out the streets tweets/leave your city tweets. Shut the f— up. No reason why a knife should be able to be snuck into a music festival. Especially since the Travis Scott shit. Rip Drakeo hope his fam sue.”
Drakeo’s The Truth Hurts was his first release since last year’s Thank You For Using GTL and followed his release in November after a 34-month stint in jail on a controversial murder charge. His past collaborations have ranged from going toe-to-toe with 03 Cali staples Greedo and OhGeesy to vibing with Seattle upstart Lil Mosey to telling stories about life in L.A. with his late friend and Stinc Team member, Ketchy the Great.
“Whether it’s through my music or off of it, I find different ways to get my point across without being preachy,” Drakeo told Billboard in March. “Whether it’s being funny or just saying it in a line on a song, I want to find the best ways to explain to people what’s going on, so it’s properly understood.”
See more tributes to Drakeo the Ruler below.
Man Drakeo was always hella cool & respectful 😢🙏🏽 Prayers up for his family RIP The Ruler 💔
— ICY SEASON ❄️ (@Saweetie) December 19, 2021
R.I.P. Drakeo the ruler prayers up for the family 🙏🏿 🙏🏿🙏🏿
— juicy j (@therealjuicyj) December 19, 2021
Drakeo was killed while working. Was there for a performance. All these get out the streets tweets/leave your city tweets. Shut the fuck up. No reason why a knife should be able to be snuck into a music festival. Especially since the Travis Scott shit. Rip Drakeo hope his fam sue
— JOEY FATTS (@JoeyFatts) December 19, 2021
RIP DRAKEO
— kennybeats (@kennybeats) December 19, 2021
RIP DRAKEO 🙏🏾
— JPEGMAFIA (@jpegmafia) December 19, 2021
RIP Drakeo man 🙁
— GUAPDAD4000.eth (@guapdad4000) December 19, 2021
RIP Drakeo man
— CASH GOD (@CashMoneyAp) December 19, 2021
damn rip drakeo man
— weef (@wifisfuneral) December 19, 2021
RIP Drakeo
— RUSS (@russdiemon) December 19, 2021
Tagged: entertainment blog, Hip-Hop, music, music blog, R&B/Hip-Hop