Rapper Lil JoJo Shot to Death—Police Probing Possibility of a Hip-Hop Feud or Gang Involvement

After a 18-year-old rising rap star is gunned down, fellow Chicago musician Chief Keef tweets "lmao," followed a retraction claiming he was hacked

By Josh Grossberg Sep 06, 2012 9:51 PMTags
Lil Jojo, Joseph ColemanFacebook

Rising Chicago rapper Lil JoJo was gunned down in a hail of bullets Tuesday in the city's South Side neighborhood of Englewood and now authorities are investigating whether his death had anything to do with a feud with some hip-hop or gang rivals

Per the Chicago Tribune, the 18-year-old JoJo, whose real name was Joseph Coleman, was standing on the back of a friend's bike when a four-door Ford Taurus pulled up and someone inside fired six or seven shots. Coleman tried to flee but ended up collapsing and a short time later was pronounced dead at a nearby hospital.

Chicago PD are now looking into whether an online war of words between JoJo and fellow up-and-coming MCs Lil Reese, Lil Durk, and Chief Keef might have led to the slaying.

NBC Chicago reports that hours after Coleman's death, Keef took to his Twitter feed and seemed to joke about it, writing, "It's sad cus…Jojo wanted to be just like us #LMAO."

LMAO, of course, is Internet slang for "laughing my ass off." The majority of responses from his 200,000 followers condemned him for the remark, and the 17-year-old hip-hopster claimed his account was hacked.

After earning a small modicum of fame in April with a successful remix of Kanye West's song "I Don't Like," Keef landed a deal with Interscope this summer and performed at Lollapalooza and the Pitchfork Music Festival.

Rapper Miss Melodie R.I.P.

Authorities are probing whether there's any connection between his remarks and Coleman's death, particularly since the latter reportedly slammed Keef and members of a street gang called the Black Discpiles in a track called "3hunna K."

Coleman was reportedly mulling two label offers before his untimely demise. Also of interest to investigators: JoJo tweeted his location before he was murdered.

Coleman's not the only Chicago rapper Keef's been beefing with. Keef also took aim at Lupe Fiasco, tweeting, "Lupe fiasco a hoe ass n---a And wen I see him I'ma smack him like da lil bitch he is #300."

Lupe Fiasco tried to tamp down on the vitriol, replying back, "I cant go 4 that @ChiefKeep & i cant let the people i love, including you my n---a, go 4 that either. We kings not f--king savages and goons."

Fiasco has since tweeted that all the bad blood going around has soured him on the hip-hop scene so much that he's calling it a career.

"This album will probably be my last...its been a pleasure to have all my fans provide so much love an inspiration for me and my family," he tweeted.

 No word yet on JoJo's funeral plans.