Young Capone, known for songs “What It Iz,” “Lights, Camera, Action,” “Dope Boy Fashion” and more, has died at 35. The rapper’s death was confirmed dead by his publicist, Aleesha Carter, on Wednesday (Aug. 16) via Instagram.
“This is with a heavy heavy heart that I’m even posting this. We made magic when we strategically put out projects, always,” she wrote, sharing a series of videos from Capone’s career. “‘Young Capone, aka Dopeboy Ra, aka Rara, was one of my first Hip Hop/ Rap clients, and I can’t believe the news I just got of his unexpected passing! A friend…a client and just huge in East Atlanta. This is not the easiest post at all. Rest easy, RIP.”
The news comes after the rapper — a protegé of Jermaine Dupri — was reported missing, and was last seen in Chicago. No cause of death was shared in Carter’s statement.
After news broke of Young Capone’s death, Dupri shared a picture of the rapper on Instagram and captioned it with four dove emojis, tagging the late artist’s Instagram account. He also soundtracked the post with the rapper’s Daz Dillinger collab “I’m Hot.”
Capone, real name Rodriguez Smith, earned a name for himself in East Atlanta during the mid 2000s in the underground hip-hop scene, working with Daz Dillinger and Dupri on material before getting signed to Dupri’s So So Def record label. After his signing, he released 2006’s “Lights, Camera, Action.”
As Young Capone, he released two mixtapes: 2010’s Look Who’s Back and 2011’s Paper and Politics. Under Dopeboy Ra, he collaborated with T.I.’s Hustle Gang collective on its 2017 album We Want Smoke. Capone’s final release, SlumMade 2.0, was released in December.
See Carter’s statement below:
