Drakeo The Ruler

Roddy Ricch’s Something In The Water Festival Performance Salutes Lil Keed, Nipsey Hussle, And More

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Hip-hop fans have been through a lot in the last few years. There hasn’t been a single year in the past half-decade that hasn’t seen the death of one of rap’s most prominent rising stars. In 2019, Nipsey Hussle was shot and killed in front of his Marathon Clothing store in Los Angeles. Later that same year, Juice WRLD overdosed coming off a flight at Midway International Airport in Chicago. More recently, Drakeo The Ruler was stabbed to death backstage during Once Upon A Time in LA Festival, and Lil Keed died of apparent kidney failure earlier this year.

Last night, during his set at Something In The Water Festival, Compton rapper Roddy Ricch paid homage to these artists and more with a tender performance of his breakout hit “Die Young.” Images of his fallen peers and contemporaries flashed behind him as he crooned the all-too-fitting lyrics of his song’s chorus: “Tell me, why the legends always gotta die quick?”

Roddy was at least partly associated with many of the rappers to whom he paid homage Friday night; he won a Grammy with Nipsey Hussle for their song “Racks In The Middle,” while Keed was a member of YSL Records, a frequent Roddy collaborator via Gunna and Young Thug. Roddy shouted out Gunna on Instagram, calling for his release from Fulton County jail as he awaits trial on racketeering charges with the rest of the YSL crew.

Watch Roddy’s tender performance of “Die Young” above.

Fans Are Frustrated That Drakeo The Ruler Was Omitted From The Grammys’ In Memoriam Segment

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Although the 64th annual Grammy Awards were better than usual, some hip-hop fans still have a bone to pick with the Recording Academy over one segment in particular. During the Grammys’ in memoriam segment Sunday, fans were distraught to learn that LA rapper Drakeo The Ruler, who died in December of 2021 after being attacked at the Once Upon A Time In LA festival, had been left off the reels of those musical figures who were remembered for their contributions.

The exclusion rubbed salt into a still stinging wound for many rap fans, especially those who knew Drakeo in life. Journalist Jeff Weiss, who had championed Drakeo extensively and covered the rapper’s stint in a Los Angeles County jail awaiting retrial for various gang-related crimes for over a year, had this to say about the Grammy Awards on Twitter: “Drakeo didn’t make the Grammys memoriam tribute, another reminder why they’re worthless.”

Another writer addressed the omission by posting Drakeo’s video for “Pippy Long Stockin” and writing, “The Grammys slept on him but we know the truth.”

The insult was added to the injury of the Grammys moving the Best Rap Album award off of the program, harkening back to the show’s earlier attitude toward rap and the 1989 boycott against the show for its decision not to televise its first-ever hip-hop awards. Drakeo wasn’t even the only California rapper left off the in memoriam segment; Bay Area rapper Gift Of Gab, who formed one-half of seminal rap duo Blackalicious, was also omitted from the rolls.

The Grammys have come a long way since 1989, but it seems they have further still to go.

Drakeo The Ruler’s Family Files Wrongful Death Lawsuit Against Live Nation

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Drakeo The Ruler’s brother and son are suing concert promoter Live Nation after the rapper was murdered in an attack backstage during a December 2021 concert. Drakeo the Ruler’s Family Seeks Damages Drakeo The Ruler’s family is claiming that Live Nation, along with the venue and festival organizers, is responsible for the LA rapper’s stabbing […]

Drakeo The Ruler’s Brother Files His Expected Lawsuit Against Live Nation For Drakeo’s Murder

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It’s been a while, but LA rapper Devante Caldwell — aka Ralfy The Plug — has filed his expected lawsuit against Live Nation for the wrongful death of his brother Drakeo The Ruler, according to TMZ. This is a separate lawsuit from the one filed by the two rappers’ mother, Tianna Purtue, on behalf of Drakeo’s son, Caiden Caldwell. Ralfy’s suit — which also includes members of his and Drakeo’s Stinc Team crew — provides additional details about the attack at Once Upon A Time In LA that ended with Drakeo being fatally stabbed in the neck.

Describing the assault as a “violent mob attack” that lasted for as much as 15 minutes, the suit alleges that Drakeo was attacked within minutes of arriving, which they did through two separate checkpoints Caldwell’s legal team calls “lackadaisical.” Two staffers at the first waved in anyone with an all-access pass, while the second had only a metal detector and a small group of security guards who did not search all of the vehicles. The suit names Live Nation, Snoop Dogg’s LLC, C3 Presents, Bobby Dee Presents, and the Los Angeles Football Club, owners of the Banc Of California Stadium where the festival took place, as defendants. While no dollar amount has yet been reported, Purtue’s suit demands up to $60 million in damages.

Drakeo The Ruler’s Family Raises Their Live Nation Lawsuit Demand To $60 Million

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In the case of the other major lawsuit against concert promoter Live Nation, Pitchfork reports that the $20 million lawsuit planned by Drakeo The Ruler’s family in response to his death during the Once Upon A Time In LA festival in December has not only been filed but raised to $60 million on behalf of his young son, Caiden Caldwell, by his mother, Tianna Purtue.

The lawsuit, which also names promoter partners Bobby Dee Presents and C3 Presents, as well as Banc of California Stadium owners Los Angeles Football Club, cites the disaster at Astroworld just a week before and accuses the promoters of negligence. The lawsuit says that they did not place “the safety and wellbeing of its guests and its invited artists ahead of profits,” leading to the lax security conditions that allowed Drakeo’s assailant to fatally stab him in the neck during a backstage brawl.

The suit expresses the family’s belief that the promoters were “completely knowledgeable of the potential dangers posed to both their guests and the performers they hired based on numerous past incidents of violence and death at their hip hop events.” This included not only diminishing Drakeo’s own physical security but allowing access to the backstage area by multiple people who seemed affiliated with LA’s numerous street gangs. What started as a skirmish between two small groups apparently escalated into a larger conflict as more members got involved on the basis of affiliation, with many of the attackers “dressed in all red and wearing ski masks.”

Meanwhile, the lawsuit defends Drakeo from assumptions that he himself was gang-affiliated, although it notes that members of a Bloods set wanted revenge on Drakeo for allegedly killing one of their own in a dispute — an incident for which he served nearly two years in county jail merely awaiting re-trial on new charges even after being acquitted.

Among the failures of security listed in the suit is a lack of police presence, the omission of searches for artists and their entourages, and allowing unauthorized individuals to access the backstage areas. In all, Caiden, via Purtue, is seeking $25 million for Drakeo’s death, $25 million for loss of earnings and financial support, and $10 million for Drakeo the Ruler’s suffering prior to his death.

Drakeo The Ruler’s Family Details The $20 Million Lawsuit They’re Filing Against Live Nation

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After the tragic stabbing of Drakeo The Ruler at the Once Upon A Time In LA festival in December, the young rapper died from the injuries he sustained at the event. Directly after her son, born Darrell Caldwell, was murdered, his mother, Darrylene Corniel, said she planned to sue the event over this wrongful death. Today, Billboard reports that the family’s lawyer, James Bryant, has outlined some of their legal action against Live Nation, C3 Presents, and Bobby Dee Presents.

Bryant said a lack of precautions to protect the rising young artist led to a situation where he was “essentially lynched,” and said the family will be seeking up to $20 million in damages. “His life was taken way too soon,” Bryant continued. “This should never have never happened if those promoters had actually had the proper security protocols. This was a preventable death,” he added, citing the fact that Drakeo was assigned “no security” and noting the barricades at the event were completely insufficient. Those who failed Drakeo the Ruler, they’re going to be held accountable,” the lawyer concluded.

Drakeo was stabbed during a skirmish backstage, much of which was captured on video, and the lawyer’s displayed this footage during their press conference. Billboard reached out for comment from the promoters involved but so far they have yet to respond.

03 Greedo Says The Death Of Drakeo The Ruler ‘Really Crushed Me’

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Although it has been more than a month since the death of Drakeo The Ruler, tributes continue to roll in, highlighting just how much he meant to the hip-hop world. The latest one comes from Drakeo’s incarcerated “Out The Slums” collaborator 03 Greedo, who shared a remembrance on his Instagram page.

I wanted to wait until I felt like a lot of the clout posts died down because this one really crushed me. I lost a lot of homies, family, and industry friends while I’ve been locked up but to lose my evil twin f*cked me up. I wake up every day wishing I made parole so I could convince you to move out of LA with me and focus on the music. To lose your n****s you made your first millions with before even coming home to enjoy it is mind-blowing. Coming home to Shoreline broken up and no Ketchy or Drakeo — we still have so many hot songs we haven’t shown the world.

In the post, Greedo not only laments the death of Drakeo but also that of Drakeo’s Stinc Team artist Ketchy The Great, who was killed in a car accident months before Drakeo was stabbed to death backstage at the Once Upon A Time In LA festival, as well as the breakup of Shoreline Mafia, with whom Greedo and Drakeo had frequently collaborated as part of LA’s new underground scene.

Greedo was sentenced to 20 years in prison in the state of Texas for gun and drug possession in 2018, as Drakeo faced his own potentially lengthy sentence for attempted murder and gang association in LA. With the tragedy of Drakeo’s death comes the additional loss of the two men’s promised reunion. You can read Greedo’s full post below.