Qidere Johnson, a.k.a LGP Qua, was shot and killed Sunday in what police believe was a robbery. Courtesy of @lgp_qua
Sherry Stone, PHILADELPHIA TRIBUNE STAFF WRITER
Philadelphia rapper LGP Qua, whose real name is Qidere Johnson, was known for using positive, uplifting lyrics for youth in his songs. But on Mother’s Day, the young community advocate became a statistic of the gun violence he often spoke against.
Qua, who drew 300,000 followers on Instagram, was killed Sunday, May 11, that, according to the National Institute of Health, has become all too common for African American rappers and hip-hop artists.
The report lists homicide as the most commonly reported cause of death for hip-hop and rap recording artists in the U.S.
Between Jan. 1, 1987, and Dec. 31, 2014, there were 92 deaths. That number easily exceeds 100 now, with the deaths of LGP Qua, Nipsey Hussle, Pop Smoke, Takeoff, Young Dolph and others, falling to gun violence since 2014.
The median age of these deaths is 29, with Black males making up over 90% of the casualties. The report revealed that all but one of the homicides have been committed with firearms.
Police make arrests
According to reports from Tribune partner Channel 10 NBC, police have arrested 19-year-old Joshua Thomas-Coleman and 19-year-old Abdul Boyd in the shooting. They have both been charged with murder.
Local authorities are also looking for a third suspect, identified as 21-year-old Amir Earley, in connection with Qua’s death, which occurred near the 3900 block of M Street near Luzerne Street in the Juniata Park neighborhood of North Philadelphia. Earley is considered to be armed and dangerous.
Around 500 attended Qua’s funeral on Saturday at The Met in North Philadelphia.
“My heart is broken,” said family friend Nikki Bagby on Saturday. “He wanted to bring Philly up, although Philly didn’t bring him up. We fought to show the world who he was. And unfortunately now everybody knows him. He was a beautiful soul.”
Silenced so young
The report from the National Library of Medicine on the “Life Expectancy and Cause of Death in Popular Musicians” showed that despite “the perception of a glamorous, free-wheeling lifestyle for this occupational group, the figures tell a very different story.”
Results showed that popular musicians have a shortened life expectancy compared with comparable general populations and excess mortality from violent deaths, particularly for the under-25 group.
According to the study, written by Dianna Kenny and Anthony Asher, the “overall mortality rates were twice as high” compared with the population when averaged.
“In particular, excess suicides and liver-related disease were observed in country, metal, and rock musicians, while excess homicides were observed in six of the 14 genres, in particular hip hop and rap musicians,” Kenny said in the report.
Qua, 30, was known as the “Voice of the Youth” with the abbreviation VOTY displayed in his gold chain, and featured several letters from area teens on his track “Dear Qua.”
The North Philadelphia native had become a social media sensation for pushing community empowerment through many of his freestyle videos and rap songs.
At 23, he was given a City Council citation at the Edward T. Steel Elementary School that he attended in the Nicetown section of the city for his work with youth.
The day he was gunned down, Qua joined a list of big- and small-time rap artists, some with Philadelphia connections, who have been victims of gun homicides.
Noah Scurry, 17, for example, a Samuel Fels High School basketball star, was shot and killed on the 5000 block of Rorer Street earlier this year.
Scurry appeared in a rap music video wearing a Joker mask and brandishing a gun, along with others who were armed in the video. He was shot and killed while getting into his mom’s car on the way to school.
Linking another tragic loss of a rap star to Philadelphia was the shooting of Derrick Gant, 28, also known as Phat Geez, last year in the city.
Phat Geez, who had worked with Philadelphia rap star Meek Mill, was killed just hours after promoting his single, “No Gunzone” to raise awareness about youth violence in Philadelphia.
According to an interview on 100.3 RNB radio. Phat Geez encouraged young people to “squash the beef” rather than resort to retaliation.
The rapper was killed outside of his North Philadelphia home on the 1200 block of North Taney Street, according to Philadelphia police by a drive-by shooter.
The death toll goes on when one considers nationally known rap artists like Jam Master Jay of Run DMC, who was murdered at the age of 37, execution-style inside his recording studio in the Queens borough of New York in October 2022.
Jam Master Jay was known for contributing to the group’s mega-hit singles like “My Adidas” and “Walk This Way,” which became popular in the mid-1980s. Last year, Karl Jordan Jr. and Ron Washington were found guilty of Jam Master Jay’s murder.
A lesser-known Philadelphia emcee, Tommy Hill, 36, born John Wilson, was shot and killed outside of Reuben’s Marc Bar in December 2011. He died when three masked gunmen shot him in the chest and lower body, a few years after he testified against a trio of drug dealers.
Leaders at a crossroads
Earlier this year, Councilmember Curtis Jones Jr. commented on the influences of rap videos on young people and the occasional link to violence.
“We have to work with our artists on using positive forms of expression on what they see in their daily lives,” he said. “We also have to address the industry that is employing them. The record industry does things like, I know, Group A is fighting Group B, and they’re going back and forth through musical dialogue that results in violence.
“We have to hold the record industry accountable,” Jones added. “We have to hold the radio stations accountable.” Some rap involves “calling out the other group, and you’re running through their neighborhood,” listening to a beat. “You don’t know what they’re saying, but they do — and it is a dangerous, volatile situation that we need to pay attention to.”
Assistant District Attorney William Fritze added that arguments and rap videos on social media have led to violence in Philadelphia, as in the case of Philadelphia rapper Abdul Vicks, who was also known as YBC-Dul. He was shot and killed in August 2024.
Hayward Derrick Horton, a professor in the Department of Sociology at SUNY College in Albany, New York, told The Tribune that the unusual number of deaths of African American rappers could easily be tied to the high homicide rate among Black men in the U.S.
“Instead of just looking at the tree, sometimes you have to look at the whole forest,” he said. “Violence is affecting young Black men. It’s not just the rappers. There is too much violence, period. You have to look back at the 70s and the decisions to deliver guns and drugs into the Black community.”
Horton said too many young Black men are being killed for no reason.
“What are we going to do to create opportunity for young African Americans as opposed to crime and violence?” he asked. “The issues are complex. We need people to fight against those who are trying to turn back the clock. My heart goes out to the family of LGP Qua and to anyone who has lost a son or daughter to violence.”
sstone@phillytrib.com
215-893-5781
About Post Author
