South Carolina rapper 18veno passes away at age 18

The hip hop community is mourning another fallen emcee. On Saturday (Jan. 24), numerous reports surfaced that stated South Carolina rapper 18veno had reportedly been shot and killed.

As of this report, no one from the rapper’s family has confirmed the cause of death despite the multiple reports online. Nonetheless, tributes came pouring in from artists who were close to the Winnsboro, South Carolina spitta. One of those artists is producer Jetsonmade, who also hails from South Carolina. In his post, Jetsonmade shows love to the 18-year-old rapper and also includes a video of 18veno performing one of his songs while in the backseat of a car.

18veno started taking his rap career seriously when he was in the 9th grade. Last year, 18 dropped his debut project Pablo, which was inspired by his childhood nickname and the kingpin himself, Pablo Escobar. The project, which contains 11 tracks, puts 18’s skill on full display and only features rapper PG RA. Pablo holds stand-out songs like “1942” and “Slugs,” the latter was the final song he promoted on his Instagram Story.

18veno’s passing is another reminder of the tragic gun violence that continues to claim the lives of prominent artists. Within the past year alone, other artists like Dallas rapper Mo3, Chicago rapper King Von, and New York City’s own Pop Smoke all passed away after sustaining fatal gunshot wounds.

Pop Smoke’s parents recently spoke out against the gun violence that took the life of their child. In a PSA released on Friday (Jan. 22), Audrey and Greg Jackson opened up about losing their son, Bashar, in the video created thanks to a partnership with the Entertainers 4 Education Alliance/I WILL GRADUATE program.

“Because of gun violence, I’ll never see my son run up the front of our steps, taking them two at a time,” Mrs. Jackson says in the video. “He won’t ever take my hands again and dance with me. He won’t come into my room and muscle pose in the mirror. Gun violence destroys families. It must stop.”