We first became familiar with Lefty Gunplay after the West Coast rapper was released from prison in April 2023. Following his release, he signed with QTR Records and Jason Martin’s Diamond Lane Music Group. While in prison, Lefty Gunplay, whose real name is Franklin Scott Holladay, was inspired by a fellow inmate to pursue a career in music once he was out. He served nine years of a thirteen-year sentence following a conviction for a shooting.
Holladay famously collaborated with Kendrick Lamar on the 2025 single “TV Off”. The single earned Lamar and Gunplay a Grammy Award for Best Rap Song at the 68th Grammy Awards in 2026. It peaked at No. 1 on the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop chart and No. 2 on the Billboard Hot 100.
Aside from his career taking off, Lefty Gunplay has experienced a few hiccups since his prison release. In February 2025, the rapper was arrested during a traffic stop for possession of a controlled substance and for bringing that substance into a correctional facility. One month later, he was detained at the Rolling Loud festival on an outstanding warrant. More recently, in August 2026, he was arrested on a fourth-degree misdemeanor charge but was later released, and he remains uncharged at this point.
The Corvette Crash That Turned Lefty Gunplay’s Life Around
It was the success of his collaboration with Lamar that led him to go to rehab for drug abuse. In 2025, he made a call to Kendrick Lamar and Top Dawg, determined to enter rehabilitation. Initially, the rapper planned to stay in rehab for about a month, but ended up in a facility for around nine months.
In a podcast interview on The Real Report with Tony Yayo and Uncle Murda, posted on October 21, 2026, the rapper explained how crashing a Corvette in July 2025 made him seek sobriety. He explained, “It was Fourth of July weekend, and I had a show. I was arguing with my girl at the time, and I went to go get me a Corvette when they just came out the Stingrays. We were arguing when we crashed, and I’m not gonna throw her under the bus. It might have been me. It might have been her.”
Gunplay went on to say, “I broke my wrist. I broke three ribs. I broke my knee. You know what I’m saying? I fractured my jaw. I was messed up, and the car went in flames.” He later added, “I had to find myself again, you know, finding myself again and, you know, asking myself what I want. Learning how to breathe again and just be sober and just be normal and reinventing myself again. I’m still struggling with that.”
Photo by Etienne Laurent / AFP via Getty Images
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