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FYI

Toronto Rappers Killed In Downtown Shooting

Smoke Dawg (pictured) and Koba Prime were gunned down on Queen Street West on Saturday evening. Drake was one of many hip-hop artists to pay tribute.

Toronto Rappers Killed In Downtown Shooting

By FYI Staff

Two prominent Toronto rappers, Smoke Dawg (real name Jahvante Smart) and Koba Prime (Ernest "Kosi" Modekwe), were killed in a shooting on Toronto's Queen Street West on Saturday evening (June 30). The 21-year-old Smart had recently made a mark as a member of rap quartet Halal Gang, while Modekwe (age 28) was a member of the hip-hop collective Prime.


Smoke Dawg had a viral hit (2.5M YouTube views) three years ago with the track "Still," with Mo G, and later collaborated with French Montana and Skepta. During a concert in London last year he brought out Drake and Skepta, and he later opened on Drake's Boy Meets World European tour. Last week, Smoke Dawg released the song "Fountain Freestyle" (below) and a debut full-length project, Struggle Before Glory, was expected later this year.

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Fellow rappers paying tribute to Smart included Drake, Jazz Cartier, and Mustafa The Poet. Drake posted an Instagram photo of himself performing with Smoke Dawg on stage, and wrote on the platform that "All these gifts and blessed souls and inner lights being extinguished lately is devastating. I wish peace would wash over our city... Rest up Smoke."

A candlelight vigil will be held for Smart on July 2 at the Metropolitan United Church park in Toronto.

Read more here: NOW, Hip-Hop Canada. Toronto Star, CBC News

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Tré Cool, Billie Joe Armstrong, and Mike Dirnt of Green Day attend the 2024 iHeartRadio Music Awards at Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles, California on April 01, 2024.
Matt Winkelmeyer/Getty Images

Tré Cool, Billie Joe Armstrong, and Mike Dirnt of Green Day attend the 2024 iHeartRadio Music Awards at Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles, California on April 01, 2024.

Rock

Green Day Celebrate ‘Dookie’ Going Double-Diamond: ‘Thank You To Everyone Who Has Loved This Album’

The pop-punk trio's breakthrough 1994 album is just the 13th ever to be RIAA certified with more than 20 million units sold in the U.S.

Welcome to history, Green Day. The pop-punk trio celebrated a major career milestone this week when their breakthrough third studio album, 1994’s Dookie, was certified double-diamond. With that honorific, the group’s major label became just the 13th album ever to be RIAA certified for sales of more than 20 million units in the U.S., joining such iconic LPs as Michael Jackson’s Thriller, AC/DC’s Back in Black, Led Zeppelin IV, The Beatles, Pink Floyd’s The Wall and Shania Twain’s Come On Over, among others.

The group were presented with the award by label Warner Records and their team at Crush mgmt at their sold-out show at SoFi Stadium in Inglewood, CA last Saturday. In an Instagram post earlier this week, singer Billie Joe Armstrong, bassist Mike Dirnt and drummer Tré Cool proudly showed off their Diamond awards backstage at Sofi and thanked their die-hards for helping them make history.

This article was originally published by Billboard U.S.

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