Houston rapper-producer BeatKing was reported dead at the age of 39 yesterday, and now, his cause of death has been revealed. According to TMZ, BeatKing died in a Houston hospital on Thursday (August 15) after suffering a pulmonary embolism, a blood clot that blocks and stops blood flow to an artery in the lung. According to the Mayo Clinic, this blood clot usually starts in a deep vein in the leg and travels to the lung, although in rare cases, it can also start in a different part of the body.
BeatKing, who was described as a Texas rap staple, rose to national prominence in 2020 with the breakout success of his single “Then Leave” featuring Queendom Come. He continued to see success outside the Texas local scene with collaborations alongside the likes of 2 Chainz and Griselda rapper Armani Caesar, while maintaining his grip on his home state’s music scene alongside Erica Banks and DJ Chose.
BeatKing’s death was first announced by his manager, Tasha Felder, who wrote, “Today, August 15, 2024 we have lost Beatking. BeatKing has been the best part of the club for over a decade. He has produced and worked with so many artists, that his sound will forever live. He loved his daughters, his music, and his fans. We will love him forever.”
BeatKing tragically passed away on Thursday (August 15) in a Houston hospital, and thanks to one of his representatives, we have more of an idea of what happened. According to TMZ, one of his reps said that he suffered a pulmonary embolism, or the blockage of a lung artery. The Houston rapper and producer was hosting a takeover on Urban One/Radio One, passed out, and then received care at a nearby hospital after folks rushed him there. Per the representative, he passed away later that day with his two daughters by his side. “It is truly sad, we loved him so much,” the rep added.
This individual paid further tribute to the memory and legacy of BeatKing. She said on Thursday night that her client was “”the best part of the club for over a decade. He has produced and worked with so many artists, that his sound will forever live. He loved his daughters @clubgodparenting, his music and his fans. We will [love] him forever.” The “Pop Music” artist received an outpouring of love, remembrance, honors, and well-wishes following his death, connected by the art he was so proud of making.
ATLANTA, GA – JULY 17: BeatKing performs at Hot 107.9 Birthday Bash 25 at Center Parc Credit Union Stadium at Georgia State University on July 17, 2021 in Atlanta, Georgia.(photo by Prince Williams/Wireimage/Getty Images)
BeatKing also recently hung out with Drake, who actually faced some recent backlash from Sauce Walka for allegedly not showing Houston artists enough love despite living in Texas now. Walka’s issues are that the 6ix God collaborates with Houston artists that are on a similar level to him (think Travis Scott, Beyoncé, Pimp C, etc.), but not the smaller artists that he could actually support and put on. Of course, his proximity to the likes of BeatKing is one of plenty of examples that could disprove this. But it’s also too complicated and broad of a question for one casual instance or hypothetical collaboration to explain.
Meanwhile, folks like Bun B and Boi-1da completely disagree with Sauce Walka’s claims about Drake. They, along with the rest of hip-hop, have more pressing Houston matters to get to now. The city and beyond will remember BeatKing for his passion, energy, and commitment to the scene. As we continue to honor his memory throughout 2024 and into the rest of hip-hop history, we wish his loved ones the best on their journey. Rest In Peace BeatKing.
Texas hip-hop heads are going to pour out one for one of their legends. Today (August 15), it has been reported that “Then Leave” musician Beatking has died at the age of 39.
Beatking, real name Justin Riley, was a proud representative of Houston, Texas who raise through the state’s underground scene then become a staple in its club scene. When news of his untimely passing was shared across social media, supporters of the musicians refused to believe the devastating announcement.
However, in a statement posted to Instagram, the late entertainer’s manager, Tasha Felder, confirmed that sad news.
“Today, August 15, 2024 we have lost Beatking,” she wrote. “BeatKing has been the best part of the club for over a decade. He has produced and worked with so many artists, that his sound will forever live.”
The note closed with a line to spotlight the people and things Beatking cared for the most. “He love his daughters, his music, and his fans,” she wrote. “We will love him forever.”
BeatKing, also known as ClubGodzilla by his biggest fans, has lost his life at 39. According to multiple sources, the Houston, Texas rapper and producer’s manager broke the tragic news via Instagram. “Today, August 15, 2024 we have lost @Clubgodzilla. BeatKing has been the best of the club for over a decade. He has produced and worked with so many artists, that his sound will forever live. He loved his daughters @clubgodparenting, his music and his fans. We will love him forever”. Adding to the saddening breaking news, Tasha Felder included some heartwarming pics of BeatKing and his kids.
At the time of writing this article, the cause of death is currently unknown to everyone. Right now, we want to send the artist’s family and friends our deepest condolences over at HNHH. This is truly shocking, and fans are just as gutted as we are about this. “Nah man. I was hoping this was some type of mistake ”, one user under Tasha’s post writes. “I’m sorry for your loss!! This just shocked tf out of me. Everybody loved bro!””, another adds.
Houston producer and artist BeatKing has unfortunately passed away. Keep his loved ones in your prayers during this difficult time, Roomies. #TSRStaffBDpic.twitter.com/8PFEQAjnS3
For those who are unaware, BeatKing was one of the premier club hitmakers of the 2010s. You may have heard songs like “THICK” with DJ Chose, as well as “Then Leave” featuring Queendom Come once or twice at your favorite local nightclub. Making this news even more sudden is the fact that all seemed to be well over in BeatKing’s camp. He just put out two projects earlier this year, including Get Money, B**** in March, as well as Never Leave Houston On A Sunday on July 26. We will continue to provide updates as soon as we hear more about this developing story. For now, show some love to BeatKing’s circle and we will continue to do the same.
What are your thoughts on BeatKing passing away at 39? What is your favorite song of his and why? Does he have the best club bangers of the last decade? We would like to hear what you have to say, so leave your thoughts in the comments. Additionally, always keep it locked in with HNHH for all of the latest news surrounding this ongoing headline surrounding BeatKing. Finally, stay with us for everything else going on in the music world.
When Armani Caesar dropped her 2020 debut The Liz, it was a fitting vibe for the grungy time we were in. Now that outside is completely open, Ms. Ceasar is once again, stepping to the plate with another fitting vibe for the times in the form of The Liz 2, which was released back in October. 17 songs deep, The Liz 2 features a variety of vibes taken from inspiration across the world.
One stop across the globe The First Lady Of Griselda took after the world opened back up is Houston, Texas, where she came together with the city’s own Beatking and Queendom Come to create “Sike.” In usual fashion, she pops her sh*t on the track, this time over Beatking Kong’s ass-shaking production in the poshest way ever. This week, she released the music video for the club banger, which was shot at a local high school over the course of 16 hours.
Uproxx spoke with Armani Caesar about why a Beatking and Queendom Come feature was a very necessary addition, why strippers make the best A&Rs, and how you can have dinner with her if you want to.
What made you tap in with Beatking?
I’ve always been a fan of Beatking music and early on when we started curating The Liz 2 I knew I wanted some Houston music and he’s Club Godzilla. As soon as I heard the beat and as soon as I heard Queendom, I knew I had to hop on it. I love her voice so it was a no-brainer. I was like “Nah, give me that!”
Were you in Houston when you made it?
No, actually, West (Westside Gunn), sent it to me. He was down in Houston. I just ended up flying out to Atlanta and meeting Beatking. He was playing me some records but that was the one that actually stuck and that’s when I ended up recording it. I recorded it in the A.
Did you play it out there at the strip clubs in the A to test it out, as well?
Plenty. At all the strip clubs. Blue Flame, especially. That’s our little spot. They was definitely fucking with it. It’s a vibe.
Since The Liz dropped during the pandemic and The Liz 2 is us (mostly) out of the pandemic, how are you adjusting?
With The Liz, because when I got signed immediately after the world shut down, I really didn’t have a chance to do anything that a newly signed artist could do. Everything was just kind of in-house and at home, so being able to go out and travel again once the world did start back opening up, I was around different sounds and producers and different environments and catching a vibe that’s why this sound is so eclectic. On certain jazzy songs or songs where I am singing a little bit more on it, we were in Puerto Rico when we recorded those. There’s a couple of them I recorded in Phoenix, a couple in the A, I was just everywhere with it and back in my bag.
Since you’re signed to Griselda, do you think your image, sound, or message gets lost?
It’s good to have a female on there to be able to complete the package. I think it was always West’s intent to bridge the gap to the mainstream artists to not only tap in and work with more of a club sound or a mainstream sound like I have with “Diana” with Kodak Black. It’s still fitting. It’s still me. We all come from the same place so we still have that story. That underrated sh*t, we have to continue to keep proving ourselves. I’ve always been proving myself, I’ve always been the standout, whether it was in the studio with a bunch of guys. Whether it’s me being out in a lane of my own. I’m the only female that is looking like this and acting like this. To be able to get acclaim from various outlets and people who are featuring me and really f*cking with the music and just f*cking with me for just being authentic. I’m not trying to be anyone else but Armani.
The Liz series cover art both have Elizabeth Taylor with a third eye, can you get into what all that means with the third eye?
The picture itself, it’s of the actual painting by Isaac Pelayo. That’s his style. To take classic people whether it be someone famous or influential, that can tie into music. With Elizabeth Taylor, it’s an older picture of her on the first Liz with the third eye and that’s just showing that multi-dimensional side of me. We woke — we know what’s going on. I’m not going to be some female rapping about her ass, titties, and p*ssy. I’m not going to be the status quo. What I look like; there’s so much more. I see beyond a lot of things that are surface-level in this industry.
This new cover is a more youthful Liz. Before, where it was giving classic; that classic boom-bap sound and that classic feel with bars and spitting. This time she’s a little bit younger. She’s more in her prime but still giving elegant. Still beautiful. But also, I’m showing off a more youthful sound and tapping in with different artists that are more mainstream. I wasn’t really too crazy about being on the first one because I didn’t want people to look at my album cover and judge me. Elizabeth Taylor is also someone who played Cleopatra, so there’s the Caesar tie. It’s so many layers, I can be here all day talking about it.
I love it because you came from the strip club world, right?
Absolutely.
So you’re showing that it’s not always what you see. There’s more if you take the time to find out.
Exactly and again, it’s still giving an elegant sound to something that is gritty and grungy and hard, boom bap — but still sitting like a bad bitch with production that is out of this world. Not your typical one-two beat.
Oh, for sure! I think most of the records, club-wise, are broken in at the strip clubs before anywhere else. That’s where you can tell if a girl is making money off it, if guys is feeling it, if girls can really dance to it, and if the energy of the song is right — because it doesn’t necessarily have to be a fast song to do something.
Tell me about shooting the music video for “Sike” with Beatking and Queen.
We shot that in Houston. I flew down there for a couple of days and just tapped in, caught a vibe, and set up to shoot. It was a real fun shoot. It was at a real high school. We got to rent out the locker rooms and the gym. It was an all-day shoot that was probably 16 hours long just because of the different set-ups. They had a crane to get overhead shots. Between me, Beatking, and Queendom doing all of our parts, time was just flying so it didn’t feel like 16 hours.
What time did you guys wrap?
Like 1 or 2 in the morning. We probably started around 10 or 9 o’clock in the morning.
What did you end up doing after to celebrate the video being completed? Or did you go back to your room to rest?
I had a flight to catch so I couldn’t do too much, but I did end up going to the studio after. I had a session. I was wrapping up The Liz 2 when we shot it. This was the first video we shot for The Liz 2.
Never stop working.
Never.
You know how Beatking always has a t-shirt on with a wild-ass saying? What would your own t-shirt with a wild-ass saying?
“Girl, f*ck him.” It’s a vibe. I think a lot of girls would rock that.
I would! What else do you have going on?
I am starting a TikTok campaign for fans to enter to have a free dinner with me. All they would have to do is a video to the song and whoever has the best video will win. We picking a bunch of winners too. We not going to be stingy.
Just TikTok?
TikTok, Instagram, whoever got the best video will get dinner with me.
Houston’s own Club God, Beatking, is known for his strip club trap music. Now he’s found a counter-partner to go along with his provocative turned-up club shenanigans. Queendom Come first broke on to the scene with her hot verse on Beatking’s “Then Leave.” her name is Queendom Come, and she came to get “that head that bread and leave.”
Her success from that song has led her to be the queen of making hooks. Her exuberant energy created perfect chemistry between Beatking. As a result, the two linked up for yet another club banger, “TUH.”
In the “TUH” video, filmed by Miaci, Beatking and Queendom have the entire class lit! They turned the classroom into a club. Beatking is the class clown in the video, and Queendom is the teacher who is instructing the turn-up.
“TUH” is Beatking’s follow-up to “SDAB” with 2 Chainz and Juicy J. This also follows another club banger, “Toot That,” with DreamDoll on Erica Banks. “Toot That” has nearly 7 million Spotify streams and over 9 million YouTube views.
Along with “TUH” and “Then Leave,” Queendom also collaboration with Beatking on “Keep It Poppin’” featuring Ludacris and “Throw Dat” featuring Lil Jon and the Ying Yang Twins.
In just a few weeks, 2 Chainz will drop his Dope Don’t Sell Itself album, his first full-length release in almost two years. He began the rollout for the project, which may be his “last trap album,” by releasing “Million Dollars Worth Of Game” with 42 Dugg. Just a couple of weeks later, 2 Chainz is back with a second single for his listeners to enjoy. “Pop Music” finds the Atlanta rap star standing beside Moneybagg Yo and Beatking for a fun and energetic single.
The track is an ideal release for the strip club, with the three artists encouraging the women around them to shake what their mommas gave them. 2 Chainz leads the way with a lighthearted verse before Moneybagg Yo comes in to handle business on the second verse. Beatking holds it all together with a simple but effective hook on the track. The trio also released a music video for the song and it’s a risque visual, obviously inspired by the infamous Freaknik festival, that’s filled with plenty of women who have no issue with twerking their lives away.
Prior to “Pop Music” and “Million Dollars Worth Of Game,” 2 Chainz united with DJ Premier to show off their tunnel vision spirits on “Mortgage Free.” As for Moneybagg Yo, he recently teamed up with French Montana for a video for their “FWMGAB” remix.
Def Jam
You can watch the video for “Pop Music” and check out the artwork for Dope Don’t Sell Itself above.
Dope Don’t Sell Itself is due 2/4 via Def Jam.
Dope Don’t Sell Itself is out 2/4 via Def Jam. Pre-order it here.
Texas native Erica Banks certainly had some work to do to follow up the massive success of her breakout single “Buss It.” The viral track’s accompanying TikTok challenge made it and Banks a veritable household name practically overnight, so all eyes are watching for her next move. Fortunately, she and her mentor BeatKing have plenty more tricks up their sleeve.
The latest is a remix of “Toot That,” her Huey-sampling from last year’s self-titled mixtape. Produced by Sgt J, the original hijacks an interpolation of Huey’s 2007 hit “Pop, Lock & Drop It,” pairing it with the trademark slurred sounds of the Dallas native’s home state. The remix brings along New York rapper DreamDoll, who matches Banks’s boastful, uninhibited energy bar-for-bar, with a closing verse from the bass-voiced BeatKing.
Meanwhile, the video imagines the women as owner-operators of a “baddie consulting firm,” flashing an 800 number across the screen as they count cash with their carefully manicured claws and train their clients on treadmills with motivational chains.
Watch Erica Banks’s “Toot That” video with DreamDoll and BeatKing above. You can also catch Banks and BeatKing in the video for Big Jade’s “Dem Girlz.”
Erica Banks is a Warner Music artist. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.
The Lone Star State is truly having a moment right now. With Megan Thee Stallion taking a break from her reign at the forefront of pop culture, fans hungry for more of her Texas twang have plenty of options thanks to Big Jade and Erica Banks. The two rappers link up in the video for Jade’s new single “Dem Girlz” featuring Beatking to champion around-the-way girls over a chopped-and-screwed sample of David Banner’s 2003 hit “Like A Pimp.” The celebratory video sees the trio surrounded by lowriders at a car meet, a Houston, Texas staple.
The song will appear on Big Jade’s upcoming debut album, Pressure, set for release soon from Alamo Records. Like its latest single, Pressure will be a showcase of Texas talent, with appearances from DJ Chose, OMB Bloodbath, and Houston legend Slim Thug. Jade’s been promoting the upcoming album through a series of freestyles and music videos for songs like “Gucci Bag” and “No Hook,” but will surely receive even more attention thanks to Erica Banks’ appearance. Banks’ song “Buss It” was recently a viral hit thanks to the TikTok “Buss It Challenge” that saw the song jump from regional banger to the Billboard charts.
Watch the “Dem Girlz” video above.
Erica Banks is a Warner Music artist. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.
Keep his loved ones in your prayers during this difficult time, Roomies. 
