Young Pappy

Shaquon Thomas (May 10, 1995 – May 29, 2015), known professionally as Young Pappy, was an American rapper from Chicago, Illinois, associated with the North Side iteration of drill. He drew attention primarily on YouTube for what Pitchfork called a "harsh, breathless delivery" and for videos that taunted rivals; the outlet later named his 2014 track "Killa" essential to the subgenre. The Chicago Reader listed his 2015 mixtape 2 Cups: Part 2 of Everything among the decade's best Chicago albums. Raised in Rogers Park and Uptown, Thomas began releasing singles and videos in the early 2010s and developed a local following. He survived two 2014 shooting attempts that killed bystanders and was frequently discussed in reporting on the links among drill, neighborhood conflict, and social media. In 2015 the Chicago Police Department monitored him through its "Strategic Subject List" (SSL), an early predictive-policing program that scored individuals by perceived likelihood of involvement in gun violence. Thomas was shot and killed on May 29, 2015, in Chicago's Uptown neighborhood; contemporaneous reporting announced no arrests. Coverage of his killing and earlier targeting prompted police to increase patrols to discourage retaliation. In subsequent weeks, prosecutors charged a teenager in a separate Rogers Park shooting that they said stemmed from Facebook comments about Thomas; charges were upgraded to first-degree murder when the victim died. Scholars, journalists, and officials later used his case in discussions of social-media taunts and offline violence, and North Side artists cited him as an influence; Chicago performers have included his name in tributes.

Genre: drill

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