XPost: misc.survivalism, talk.politics.guns, seattle.politics   
   XPost: alt.survival   
   From: Davecross@kremlin.ru   
      
   A group of people, including one wearing a mask and armed with a   
   handgun, burst into a posh Hollywood Hills home early Wednesday   
   and fatally shot up-and-coming rapper Pop Smoke, police said.   
      
   Los Angeles Police Department detectives were still trying to   
   determine the motive of the attack, which stunned the rap world   
   and prompted an outpouring of grief from fans.   
      
   “There is a lot of information available,” said LAPD Capt.   
   Jonathan Tippet. “We have some work to do.”   
      
   Officers responded after someone calling from the East Coast   
   reported that several people had entered their friend’s home   
   shortly before 5 a.m., said LAPD Capt. Steve Lurie.   
      
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   When officers arrived at the $2.5-million home in the 2000 block   
   of Hercules Drive, they found the 20-year-old rapper, whose   
   legal name is Bashar Barakah Jackson, with gunshot wounds.   
      
   He was taken to a hospital, where he was pronounced dead.   
   Officers detained several people inside the house, but they were   
   later released. At least four suspects fled the scene, and   
   authorities say they have not been found.   
      
   Investigators suspect the home where the rapper was staying was   
   targeted by the assailants. In recent years, Los Angeles homes   
   being rented by musicians have been the targets of several home   
   invasions, according to law enforcement sources.   
      
   Investigators are aware that the rapper may have inadvertently   
   posted an image with the home’s address on social media, the   
   sources said.   
      
   Pop Smoke also had been tied by officials to the Crips street   
   gang, and detectives suspected the assailants were probably gang   
   members.   
      
   Tippet, however, cautioned against ascribing a motive in the   
   slaying given that the investigation is still in its early   
   stages. Authorities are looking through images from security   
   cameras throughout the neighborhood in search of a possible   
   getaway car. Locations with license-plate readers in the area   
   also could help detectives.   
      
   Photos and videos on Pop Smoke’s Instagram story showed him in   
   L.A. getting a haircut Tuesday and posing by the infinity pool   
   in the backyard of the Hollywood Hills home where he was   
   staying. Later that evening, he posted a photo of the Los   
   Angeles skyline from what appeared to be the home’s backyard.   
      
   The Hollywood Hills home is owned by Teddi Mellencamp of “The   
   Real Housewives of Beverly Hills” and her husband, Edwin   
   Arroyave, according to property records. Mellencamp wrote on   
   Instagram that she was informed about the shooting early   
   Wednesday by a third-party leasing and management company that   
   oversees the rental property.   
      
   “Foremost, we would like to extend our prayers and condolences   
   to the family and loved ones affected by this tragic loss of   
   life,” she wrote.   
      
   The rapper’s death came days after his second mixtape, “Meet the   
   Woo 2,” debuted at No. 7 on the Billboard Top 200 list. His   
   breakthrough mixtape, “Meet the Woo,” released last year, has   
   280 million streams globally.   
      
   Pop Smoke was signed to Republic Records through Victor Victor   
   Worldwide, according to the label.   
      
   “We are devastated by the unexpected and tragic loss of Pop   
   Smoke,” a Republic Records spokesperson said Wednesday. “Our   
   prayers and thoughts go out to his family, friends and fans, as   
   we mourn this loss together.”   
      
   The rapper was one of the most promising voices from the New   
   York drill scene, a regional variant of a hard-edged, gothic   
   sound that originated in Chicago with acts such as Chief Keef   
   but that also won popularity on the East Coast and in the U.K.   
   His dense clusters of lyrics and the high-tension moods recalled   
   an older era in New York rap, but his laconic delivery and   
   gravelly timbre were entirely of the moment.   
      
   Typical of hip-hop today, his single “Welcome to the Party” — a   
   menacing slice of noir produced by the London-based 808MeloBeats   
   — became a streaming sensation in a matter of weeks, and allies   
   including Nicki Minaj and the U.K. grime star Skepta quickly   
   joined on a remix.   
      
   But Pop Smoke’s brief life in Brooklyn was troubled from the   
   start. He claimed in interviews that he had been expelled from   
   middle school for bringing a gun to campus. Even after his rise,   
   his rough past caught up with him. What could have been a   
   triumphant hometown set at New York’s Rolling Loud festival last   
   year was derailed when the New York Police Department requested   
   that he and four other local rappers be pulled from the bill,   
   citing “public safety concerns.”   
      
   “The above listed performers have been associated with recent   
   acts of violence citywide,” wrote NYPD Assistant Chief Martin   
   Morales in a letter to organizers. “The New York City Police   
   Department believes if these individuals are allowed to perform,   
   there will be a higher risk of violence.”   
      
   Last month, a federal grand jury indicted the rapper on a count   
   of transporting a stolen vehicle across state lines. Prosecutors   
   in New York alleged in court documents that Pop Smoke stole a   
   $375,000 Rolls-Royce Wraith in Los Angeles. It was later found   
   at his mother’s home in New York. He had pleaded not guilty to   
   the charge.   
      
   During a hearing in the case in Brooklyn last month, a federal   
   prosecutor said the government believed that Pop Smoke was a   
   member of a street gang affiliated with the Crips, according to   
   a court transcript.   
      
   Because Pop Smoke is considered by law enforcement to be   
   affiliated with a street gang, authorities say his slaying is   
   considered a gang-related homicide. Detectives also suspect the   
   assailants are probably gang members, but it has not been   
   determined whether the killing was motivated by gang rivalry,   
   officials said.   
      
   The slaying comes at a tense moment in hip-hop, when young   
   artists including Lil Peep and Juice Wrld have died of drug   
   overdoses, while others like XXXTentacion and L.A. rapper Nipsey   
   Hussle have been killed in street violence.   
      
   “The Bible tells us that jealousy is as cruel as the grave,”   
   Minaj, a fellow New Yorker, wrote on Instagram after news of the   
   performer’s death broke. “Unbelievable. Rest In Peace, Pop.”   
      
   Young M.A., a fellow rapper from the Brooklyn music scene,   
   posted a photo of Pop Smoke on Instagram as a tribute to the   
   artist.   
      
   “Lost for words right now,” she wrote. “Brooklyn King! Rest up!”   
      
   Rapper Freddie Gibbs wrote on Twitter that he was “in the lab   
   last night comparing Pop Smoke to 50 [Cent] when he came out.”   
      
   Pop Smoke had been scheduled to embark on his Meet the Woo Tour   
   next month, with an initial show March 2 in Washington, D.C. He   
   also was scheduled to perform on the second day of the Rolling   
   Loud festival in Miami in May.   
      
      
   Chance The Rapper   
   ?   
   @chancetherapper   
   Rest Up Pop Smoke, you were too young. God Bless and comfort   
   your family. What a crazy trajectory you were on man smh   
   ????????????   
      
   30.1K   
   8:13 AM - Feb 19, 2020   
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   50cent   
   ?   
   @50cent   
   No such thing as success with out jealousy, treachery comes from   
   those who are close. R.i.P   
      
   View image on Twitter   
   21.2K   
   8:05 AM - Feb 19, 2020   
      
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