After posting his initial thoughts on the death of his mentor and friend Young Dolph, Memphis rapper Key Glock has followed up with a heartfelt tribute in which he describes the Paper Route Empire boss as his coach, comparing Dolph to the great Phil Jackson. Of course, that makes Key Glock the Michael Jackson of this analogy.
“Damn bro, I’m LOST,” he wrote. “My heart is torn my brain ’bout to explode. It HURTS when I breathe… Why you leave me so soon?? I’ll never be the same, you was my lefthand man, my brother, my cousin, my mentor, and drank partner. For the past 2 years I been taking LOSS AFTER LOSS and still can’t understand why… You was Phil Jackson and I was yo MJ.”
Key Glock had been signed to Dolph’s label for nearly the entirety of his rap career so far, truly taking off in 2019 when he and Dolph collaborated on the joint mixtape Dum And Dummer. Since then, he had flourished under Dolph’s guidance, dropping no less than four projects over the last two years, including his debut album Yellow Tape and mixtape Son Of A Gun, in 2020, Dum And Dummer 2 earlier this year, and Yellow Tape 2 earlier this month. He also contributed to the Paper Route Empire label compilation Paper Route Illuminati this summer.
With Dolph gone, the future of the label remains uncertain but for those who were closest to Dolph, the true loss is of their friend, mentor, and greatest champion.