Lil Lonnie, a fan favorite in his native state of Mississippi, was one of two people fatally shot in while driving in Jackson on Sunday night.
He was 22 years old.
The artist, whose real name was Lonnie Montrel Taylor, was in his vehicle along with an unidentified female passenger around 10:30 p.m. yesterday.
According to news station WAPT, the Jackson State University student was shot from the rear multiple times, which caused his SUV to swerve and crash into a house.
The female passenger remained unharmed, while Taylor was pronounced dead at the scene.
As of this writing, Jackson Police Department has been unable to find a suspect or a motive for the killing.
The artist rose to local game in 2015 due to the release of the track “Colors.”
He later earned the the top-downloaded mixtape spot on LiveMixtapes with “They Know What’s Goin’ On” that same year.
Elsewhere, the single “Special” has garnered over 2.4 million views on the Worldstarhiphop YouTube channel.
In a December 2017 interview with ThisIs50, Lil Lonnie talked about advice he got from 50 Cent, telling listeners his goal of buying his family a home with his first “mega-check.”
In Lonnie’s view, that day was coming up in the near future, too.
“Career-wise everything has been going [well], so I took that advice and I ran with it,” he said of what 50 Cent told him, adding just four months ago:
“Keep the ground consistent, keep moving around, make my face a presence everywhere.”
During this same interview, Lonnie was asked who he signed with to put a billboard up in Jackson, with the interviewer actually asking whether he was selling drugs.
“I don’t do none of that,” Taylor replied. “I’ve got morals that I stand by.”
Just hours before he was fatally shot, Lil Lonnie wrote as a caption on Instagram:
no going back….you know imma keep it coming.
In light of this tragedy, some major names in hip hop have expressed their condolences via social media:
LL Cool J: Rest in power Lil Lonnie.. may your music live on…. may the almighty lift up and bless your family..
Juicy J: RIP Lil Lonnie he was so talented. prayers up.
Tha Joker: Woke up to terrible news for the city and state as a whole. Prayers up for the family and team of @_LilLonnie_ #RIP.
Finally, and tragically, in this December interview, Lil Lonnie said the following:
“I want to be the next icon people look up to.
“I want to motivate others around from where I’m from because not too many get the recognition I do, and I just want to bring that impact to where I’m from and help people out.
“I’m willing to open the door to everybody.”
May he rest inpeace.