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Lil Poppa, a Florida-born rap artist who was signed to Yo Gotti's CMG label, has passed away.
On Wednesday, February 18, the Fulton County Medical Examiner's Office in Georgia confirmed to TMZ that the Jacksonville native was pronounced dead at 11:23 a.m. A cause of death has not been confirmed. The rapper, born Janarious Mykel Wheeler, was mourned by fellow Jacksonville artists Trap Beckham, Scy Jimm, and Tyte. Rumors about Lil Poppa's death began to spread following reports from blogs like @duvalpromo. The Duval County-based page announced that the prominent artist died and included a message from a Facebook user, who claimed he heard about Poppa's death "from his mama mouth."
"This one hit different. RIP to the chosen one," Trap wrote. "The city is truly not the same. @lilpoppa been a real one 💯A talent that most of seen from the jump. DUVAL LEGEND."
Lil Poppa has been a popular name in southern hip-hop for nearly a decade. Following early projects like Life With Desi, Poppa gained traction with hits like "Man of the Year" and "Dangerous" along with his Under Investigation featuring Yungeen Ace and YFN Lucci. Pop expanded on his Under Investigation series with two more installments. Under Investigation 2 was his first project to drop via Interscope Records.
In 2022, Yo Gotti announced that Lil Poppa had signed to his label CMG. Pop continued to drop more projects, including Heavy Is The Head (2022), Half Man, Half Vamp (2023), WEE ARE WHO WE ARE (2024) and his most recent LP Almost Normal Again featuring Mozzy, Yungeen Ace, Seddy Hendrix and more. He just dropped his latest single, "Out Of Town Bae," last week.
Rest in peace, Lil Poppa. Watch his music video for "Out Of Town Bae" below.