Chaotic Gang War Erupts After Young Dolph‘s Murder: An Explainer
The Story of Young Dolph
Young Dolph was Memphis hip hop royalty. The rapper dominated the local scene ever since his first mixtape hit the streets back in 2008. With chart-topping albums like 2020‘s RIAA Gold-certified “Rich Slave” cementing him as one of the genre’s most bankable independent artists, Dolph repped hard for his Tennessee hometown. His soulful yet gritty music found him collaborating with superstars like 2 Chainz, Gucci Mane and Megan Thee Stallion while tours took him all across the globe.
To his community in Memphis though, Dolph was more than just another successful rapper. His Castalia Heights neighborhood which birthed his Paper Route Empire record label struggled with poverty and crime. Dolph would routinely hand out turkeys around Thanksgiving through the record label’s charity foundation. He donated $25,000 to the Hamilton High School booster club. Acts of generosity endeared him to the city. Whenever Dolph appeared around town, fans would swarm him like a religious deity just happy to see him doing good back home.
That mutual love ended in tragedy last November. As shocking video from the scene shows, Dolph strolled casually into Makeda’s Butter Cookies that fateful afternoon to buy treats for his mother like he always did when visiting Memphis. Gunfire suddenly erupted as a stolen Mercedes pulled up outside. Two masked shooters hopped out blasting pistols through the bakery‘s front window striking the unsuspecting rap star multiple times. He‘d be pronounced dead at the hospital.
In the immediate aftermath of the brazen murder, Memphis law enforcement officials identified two persons of interest sought for questioning. But naming and locating specific triggermen scarcely mattered by that point. Bubbling grievances within the local hip hop world already primed Memphis for more chaos. Now with one of the city’s favorite sons murdered in cold blood, long-simmering tensions have given way to an all-out street war the likes of which authorities and residents alike seem powerless to contain…
Bad Blood: Dolph‘s Embroiled History with Yo Gotti
Speculation about the parties responsible for Young Dolph’s execution inevitably circles back around to one central feud – his beef with fellow Memphis-bred rap impresario Yo Gotti.
Problems began back in 2010 when the 36-year-old Gotti attempted courting the rising Dolph as a potential signee to his CMG record label and imprint. An offer flatly refused by the ambitious upstart. Instead, an insulted Dolph waged war through words launching his “Yo Gotti diss” campaign across a series of blistering mixtape bars.
“You ain‘t the king of Memphis / Claim you king, but fuck yo crown,” Dolph rapped on 2013‘s “King of Memphis”. A sentiment suggesting the beef was as much about hometown supremacy as opposed industry politics.
By 2016, the war of words threatened spilling over into physical violence. During a tense run-in outside an L.A. nightclub, Gotti and his entourage appeared ready to fight a defiant Dolph before cops intervened. A short while later, things got more serious when Gotti affiliate Blac Youngsta filmed himself gleefully unloading bullets at a car resembling Dolph‘s Mercedes G-Wagon. He would turn himself in after cops found over 100 shell casings at the Charlotte hotel crime scene.
Previous Attempts on His Life
But if orchestrating that brazen Charlotte shooting was meant to intimidate Young Dolph into silence, it failed miserably. After surviving the attempt unharmed, a defiant Dolph dropped “100 Shots” mocking both the incident itself and his would-be assassins unable to finish him off.
Sadly, Memphis wouldn’t need 100 shots to see their golden child killed. Just seven months after Charlotte, Dolph sat in his new bulletproof Range Rover outside a Hollywood clothing store when another vehicle pulled up to unleash more gunfire. Three bullets penetrated his SUV striking the rap star multiple times in a gruesome ambush. Police suggested possible gang ties to the shooters without naming suspects in that case either.
By his own admission, Dolph lived his raps including threats of violence against music rivals and trappings of gangster life like drugs and guns. Still, the proud star seemed unfazed by literal brushes with death. In songs and interviews after the 2017 and 2018 shootings, a resilient Dolph doubled-down on not letting attacks slow his grind.
“Still spittin‘ cash flow on charts,” Dolph rapped defiantly on 2018‘s “By Mistake” referring to Billboard success between shooting recoveries. “Paper Route Empire can‘t die / it‘ll never expire / You see me in a chair, I‘ll be ridin‘ on fire!”
Tragically, fire did finally expire Young Dolph at just 36 years old last November 17th. Only instead of a chair, he took bullets while up walking inside his favorite cookie shop back home in Memphis where trouble always stalked Dolph closest…
Retaliation Hits Memphis Streets
Much like Dolph‘s brazen defiance in music, the streets of Memphis did little hiding their lust for vengeance after his murder either. Violence erupted swiftly through shots ringing out barely 48 hours later injuring rapper Snootie Wild at a candlelight vigil not far from the cookie shop crime scene. Multiple shootings reports would soon follow including…
- 12/1 – Rapper Big Boogie‘s car shot up leaving girlfriend injured
- 12/6 – ProblemChild Mufasa member Bigg Moochie killed
- 12/7 – Rapper M2thug‘s car shot at after music video shoot
- 12/9 – Trulla Mafia member found dead behind apartment building from apparent gun shot wounds
The bloodshed accellerated into 2022. On February 4th, Justin “Tsu Tsu” Taylor (not to be confused with suspect Joshua Taylor now deceased) was gunned down inside a convenience store bringing the number of Memphis rappers killed either directly or indirectly following Young Dolph‘s murder to three.
Driving the violence seems a combination of personal beefs, musical rivalries, and the tangled web of shadowy Memphis gangs orchestrating revenge plots behind the scenes. As one Memphis music industry insider told The Washington Post amidst the turmoil: “The music, the gangs — it‘s all intertwined.”
Decoding True Motives of Dolph‘s Death
Publicly, investigating officers have remained coy about motives or theories behind who specifically ordered Young Dolph‘s murder. But digging into the histories between deceased individuals like Joshua Taylor, Hernandez Govan, and other suspects blamed for Dolph‘s murder suggests participating in a coordinated retaliation plot stemming from various personal grievances with the late rap star…
Trace the feud back to Gotti?
The most referenced motive remains Dolph‘s refusal to sign with Yo Gotti‘s CMG label which kicked off their beef back in 2010. Govan has well-documented ties to Gotti‘s imprint as shown in various social media posts. While never directly implicating Gotti in interviews, Dolph seemed to blame his former rival‘s bitterness over the botched business deal as having precipitated threats against his life.
Where personal and business beefs collide
But Gotti‘s associates likely held their owns grudges too stemming from grievances predating rap. Court documents show Taylor, Govan and other co-conspirators have a tangled history littered with drug charges, weapons convictions, and gang affiliations throughout Shelby County. Dolph himself rapped about past addiction issues while continually struggling to shed street life run-ins from his legitimate business success and fame.
Retaliation for unsolved past murders?
Govan currently faces charges for the 2017 killing of Charlotte drug dealer Marcus "Bubba" Bradfield. Feds further allege Taylor contracted multiple murders beside Dolph‘s. This opens speculation about retaliation for Dolph‘s possible direct or indirect ties into Tennessee’s vast criminal underworld. Cases the cops struggled solving given the violence epidemic gripping Bluff City well before bullets pierced Dolph‘s bulletproof whip that tragic day.
Jealousy about Dolph’s success?
Beyond old scores, Dolph‘s status as the self-made hometown hero likely motivated violence too. Court documents list Govan as the accused mastermind who planned Dolph‘s murder for five months after tracking the rap star‘s movements whenever he visited Memphis to visit Makeda‘s shop and other favorite haunts.
Such obsessive surveillance suggests more than money or machismo behind the attack. As Dolph‘s musical rival, Gotti himself failed capturing Memphis‘s heart like the slain star achieved organically through music and good deeds despite constant turmoil weighing him down. Removing such a universally beloved obstacle would be the ultimate power grab for an insecure rival defeated in both business and the court of popular opinion.
The Death Toll Rises
Coming nearly three months into 2022, the Memphis murder toll has already eclipsed 60 killed following Young Dolph’s death last November. And the chaotic violence shows no signs slowing anytime soon.
While the public clamored for Young Dolph‘s justice, behind the scenes suspects met their own grisly fates either protecting secrets, caught in revenge plots, or betrayal from amongst their own conspirator ranks. Details surrounding their cases remain murky as is usually true regarding gangland slayings…
Joshua Taylor
The first Dolph case suspect found dead in wake of the murder manhunt, Taylor perished just three days before Christmas. Officially, investigating detectives labeled his case "unexplained death" despite oddities like Taylor‘s missing shoes and socks suggesting he suffered violent end. Taylor drove a vehicle matching the white Mercedes description which eyewitnesses from Makeda‘s bakery claimed carried Dolph‘s killers speeding from the murder scene.
Justin “Teasy” Johnson
Ring leader among the True La Mafia gang, Johnson reportedly placed an $82,000 bounty for carrying out Dolph‘s execution. Eyewitnesses and GPS data confirm he met with Taylor in days before and after Dolph‘s murder. Johnson himself wound shot dead weeks after his top lieutenant‘s demise in what sources describe as a retaliatory strike.
Cornelius Smith
Currently jailed and indicted on six charges including first degree murder and attempted murder over the Young Dolph case, Smith was known associate of both Johnson and Taylor with lengthy rap sheet of past convictions. Investigators have yet to determine whether he actively participated in ambushing Dolph or aided accessories escaping the crime scene. The only prime suspect currently alive known to be in federal custody regarding the murder.
Hernandez Govan
Govan arrested in early January faces his own laundry list of felony charges tied to the Young Dolph murder investigation. Text messages, secret video footage and encrypted phone app documentation corroborate prosecutor claims of Govan organizing the attempted murder, tracking Dolph‘s movements, and facilitating the vehicle exchanges which allowed triggermen getting away briefly. Seasoned criminal defense attorneys call the evidence against him ironclad leaving little doubt about his fate with or without cooperating as the case continues unfolding.
The Aftermath and Community Impact
Beyond the deceased suspects and jailed co-conspirators, greater Memphis feels ravaged from the constant turmoil since last November 17th. Reduced tourism spending over safety concerns strikes the economy while violence fatigue drains citizens emotionally…
- The Shelby County hospital system reports gun shot trauma expenditures exceed budget by 32% over 2021‘s same period
- Memphis 25% murder solve rate is barely half the national average as witnesses remain silent under street code protection
- Classmates have already held candlelight vigils mourning children killed as bystanders to public mayhem
- Convenience store revenue fell 19% as wary customers remain home avoiding violence-prone areas
- Church leaders decry fraying Memphis family structures from so many deaths leaving children parentless
As beloved favorite son Young Dolph is laid to rest, Memphis still feels directionless chasing justice. Bodies continue falling frequently as authorities vow quelling street gang warfare. Until a semblance of order restores law, chaos reigning supreme comes at further cost of innocent life.
So what stands as Young Dolph‘s true legacy? For a self-made star who repped Memphis relentlessly, crafted radio smashes between shootings then defied odds surviving the danger dogging him for so long, Dolph‘s memory deserves honoring his talent‘s totality along with immense community impact. Not just being summed up as sad climax to yet another slain rapper gun violence statistic.
Because while Dolph‘s murder directly sparked the current mayhem, ideally his passing spotlights the culture enabling lawlessness more than ever. Until then, detained suspects, dead accomplices and the lingering mystery around who ultimately green-lit assassination ensures chaotic revenge of Young Dolph plays out more violently before this tortured city heals.