Rich Homie Quan, an Atlanta rapper who played a role in the city’s thriving hip-hop scene in the 2010s, has died at a hospital in Atlanta. He was 34.
His death was confirmed on Thursday by the Fulton County Medical Examiner’s Office, which did not provide a cause.
A melodic rapper who broke out in one of the country’s most fertile rap scenes over a decade ago, Rich Homie Quan has more recently become a character in the sprawling gang conspiracy trial in Georgia centered around Young Thug, the Atlanta superstar.
Quan’s early career was closely tied to that of Young Thug; the two were members of Rich Gang, a group assembled by Bryan Williams (a.k.a. Birdman), one of the founders of the label Cash Money.
Their slow-rolling debut single from 2014, “Lifestyle,” was a Hot 100 hit and has been certified platinum. The pair later fell out over what Quan said were issues around ego and money, and parts of their feud have spilled over into testimony at the trial.
In 2013, Quan broke out solo with “Type of Way,” a song about ambition and romance that the Michigan State football team adopted as an anthem. In The New York Times, the critic Jon Caramanica wrote about the track, proclaiming Quan part of a new generation of rappers “who deliver lines with melody and heart, like singers on the verge of a breakdown.”
Quan’s only full studio album, “Rich as in Spirit,” came out in 2018 on Motown Records; it included one feature, from Rick Ross. He released mixtapes from 2012 to 2017, several of which charted on Billboard’s Top 200, and collaborated with artists including 2 Chainz and YG. “Flex (Ooh, Ooh, Ooh),” an earworm of a single from 2015, generated a viral dance craze. The song has since gone triple platinum.
In 2014, Quan’s father, who also acted as his manager, was injured at a shooting at his barbershop in Atlanta. “Where I’m at in life, problems come,” the rapper told XXL at the time. “You just have to be ready for whatever’s presented in front of you.”
The confrontation was brought up last month at the Young Thug trial when Kenneth Copeland (a.k.a. Lil Woody), a witness for the prosecution who was granted immunity, admitted that he had participated in the shooting. Quan’s name came up again this week during further testimony by the same witness.
Dequantes Devontay Lamar was born on Oct. 4, 1989. He grew up as an athlete in Atlanta, where he excelled at baseball. Doubtful about his future in sports and viewing college as a “waste of money,” he began stealing televisions and other electronics; he was arrested on a burglary charge and spent 15 months in jail in 2011.
“It was scary,” he told XXL, “but it was real life.” While incarcerated, he read books and wrote raps, planning to pursue hip-hop upon his release.
“When I got out jail I didn’t want to be shy no more,” he told Rolling Stone in 2015. “I knew this was all I had and I wanted to go hard at it, so that’s what I did.”
In the studio, he was inspired the soul music he had heard at his grandmother’s home as a child, citing the Temptations and the Isley Brothers as early influences. As his career developed, he involved his family members in his business, intent on them reaping some of the benefits of his stardom.
His career took off quickly, but in 2014 he had a seizure during a music video shoot. “It went from one show a week to five shows a week, then I started getting tired,” he told Rolling Stone.
A complete list of survivors was not immediately available.
In a 2013 Billboard interview, the young rapper said he wanted to make his “brand bigger than life.”
“Everything starts somewhere,” Quan said. “I’m pretty sure when Cash Money first started off, they didn’t think it would get as big as it is today. I just want something that can last forever.”
The post Rich Homie Quan, Melodic Atlanta Rapper, Dies at 34 appeared first on New York Times.
