Smoke Dawg and Drake on their tour in 2017
Canadian rapper Smoke Dawg was shot and killed outside a Toronto club on Saturday night, according to Global News. He was 21. Close friend Mustafa the Poet posted his condolences late Saturday: “may our prayers follow him to heaven.”
Smoke Dawg’s death comes just two weeks after the shooting death of 20-year-old American rapper XXXTentacion, who was shot down outside Miami on June 18. Rapper Chief Keef was also nearly shot outside the W Hotel in Times Square earlier in June, though the bullets missed him and hit paneling in front of the hotel.
On his Instagram account, Drake posted a tribute to Smoke Dawg that include a picture of the two performing together in London, Ontario.
“All these gifts and blessed souls and inner lights being extinguished lately is devastating,” the tribute read. “I wish peace would wash over our city. So much talent and so many stories we never get to see play out. Rest up Smoke.”
According to CP24 News, Dawg was shot at 8 p.m. on Saturday outside the Cube Nightclub in Toronto’s entertainment district. Two other bystanders were shot and rushed with Dawg to a local hospital. Dawg later died of his injuries. Friends of Smoke Dawg identified him toGlobal News as the deceased victim.
The shooting took place during Canada Day weekend, with thousands of people out in the streets to celebrate the national holiday.
“The scene just turned chaotic. There were people running everywhere, there were vehicles just trying to get out of the way,” recounted one witness. “Down on Peter Street we just saw a mass of tourists – normal Saturday traffic on Queen Street – basically running scared for their lives. It was intense, it was very chaotic.”
Toronto mayor John Tory told reporters on Sunday he was “damn mad” about the recent increase in shootings in his city, though he blamed the gun violence on leniency in the city’s criminal justice system.
“This city has always been safe and the objective is to keep it safe. These are people, some of these people who are out on bail and have been doing this repeatedly, involved with gangs who are the only ones that pose a threat to the safety of this city and that’s why I think they should be kept behind bars,” Tory said.
Smoke Dawg released what would be his last music video just five days prior to his death, titled “Fountain Freestyle.” The song opens with a call out to the Halal Gang, the hip-hop group the rapper was a part of with fellow Toronto residents Safe, Puffy L’z and Mo-G.
By Jeremy Fuster and Thom Geier | The Wrap
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Jahvante Smart, a/k/a Smoke Dawg, Murdered
Jahvante Smart (November 18, 1996 – June 30, 2018), better known by his stage name Smoke Dawg, was a Canadian rapper from Toronto, Ontario. He resided in the city’s Regent Park neighborhood and had Jamaican ancestry. Smoke Dawg was a member of the group Halal Gang, which also included rappers SAFE, Puffy L’z, and Mo-G. He was responsible for the popular remix of “Trap House” in 2015, featuring French Montana. His collaborations extended overseas with a key icon in grime music, Skepta, and their song “Overseas”. Smoke Dawg was associated with the Toronto music collective Full Circle, which consists of the group Prime Boys (Jay Whiss, Donnie, Jimmy Prime) and Halal Gang. During the months of February and March 2017, Smoke Dawg was on the Boy Meets World Tour with Drake.
On June 30, 2018, a shooting was reported in the Toronto Entertainment District. The perpetrators allegedly shot multiple times and fled in a black SUV with tinted windows. Three victims were injured, and two were later pronounced dead in hospital. Affiliates of Smoke Dawg posted on social media that Smoke Dawg was one of the victims, with the Toronto Police Service confirming this as a fact the next day.
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https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Smoke_Dawg
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IN MEMORIAM:
Richard Swift (March 16, 1977 – July 3, 2018) was an American singer, songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, producer and short-film maker. He was the founder, owner, and recording engineer of National Freedom, a recording studio located in Oregon, and worked as producer, collaborator, muse and influencer for such acts as The Shins, Damien Jurado, David Bazan, Foxygen, Jessie Baylin, Nathaniel Rateliff, The Mynabirds, Wake Owl, Laetitia Sadier of Stereolab, Gardens & Villa, Cayucas, and Guster. Swift was a former member of indie rock band The Shins and The Arcs. Swift was also a part of the Black Keys’ live band during their 2014–2015 tour, performing as their touring bassist and backing singer.
Swift lived in Cottage Grove, Oregon, where he met his wife Shealynn. They had three children. Pitchfork reported on June 19, 2018, that Swift had been hospitalized in Tacoma, Washington, recovering from an undisclosed “life-threatening condition” and that a GoFundMe had been set up to help cover his medical expenses. He died on July 3, 2018.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richard_Swift_(singer-songwriter)
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Other Notable Musicians’ Deaths…
July 2018
3: Richard Swift, 41, American singer-songwriter, producer and musician (The Shins, The Black Keys, Starflyer 59).
2: Henry Butler, 68, American jazz pianist, cancer; Alan Longmuir, 70, Scottish bass guitarist (Bay City Rollers); Bill Watrous, 79, American jazz trombonist.[28]
1: Roy Carr, 73, British music journalist (NME, Vox); Paul Ott Carruth, 83, American singer-songwriter and conservationist, cancer; François Corbier, 73, French songwriter and television presenter, cancer.
June 2018
30: Smoke Dawg, 21, Canadian rapper, shot.
29: Eugene Pitt, 80, American singer (The Jive Five).
27: Joe Jackson, 89, American band manager (The Jackson 5), patriarch of the Jackson family, pancreatic cancer; Steve Soto, 54, American punk musician (Adolescents).