September 13, 2022
PnB Rock, a hip-hop artist and Philadelphia native who grew up in Germantown, was shot and killed on Monday afternoon during a robbery at a restaurant in Los Angeles.
Rock, 30, who's legal name was Rakim Allen, was dining with his girlfriend at Roscoe's House of Chicken 'N Waffles at 1:15 p.m. when a suspect entered the restaurant and demanded the rapper's jewelry, the Los Angeles Times reported.
Rock was then shot multiple times and was transported to a nearby hospital, where he later died. The suspect, who fled the scene in a car, has not been identified. Investigators were still processing evidence Monday night, Los Angeles Police Captain Kelly Muniz told the Los Angeles Times.
Rock's girlfriend had reportedly posted a picture on Instagram with the couple's location prior to the incident. The post has since been deleted.
LAPD says the male victim shot at Roscoe’s during a robbery this afternoon has died. Rapper PnB rock was dining here with his girlfriend when he was shot according to TMZ @FOXLA pic.twitter.com/AI6a88r0kS
— Travis Rice (@traviscrice) September 13, 2022
Celebrities and musicians took to social media to share their condolences after Rock's death was announced.
Rapper Nicki Minaj said that celebrities must learn to stop sharing their locations with the public, especially when they wear expensive clothing and jewelry.
After Pop Smoke there’s no way we as rappers or our loved ones are still posting locations to our whereabouts. To show waffles & some fried chicken????! He was such a pleasure to work with. Condolences to his mom & family. This makes me feel so sick. Jesus. #SIP #PnbRock 🕊
— Nicki Minaj (@NICKIMINAJ) September 13, 2022
A week ago.. PNB Rock talked about a prior situation where he felt some people were trying to do something to him. pic.twitter.com/3l2xPELGlS
— DJ Akademiks (@Akademiks) September 12, 2022
Fellow Philly Rapper Meek Mill, who Rock collaborated with on the 2018 song "Dangerous" with singer Jeremih, said that every time he sees something like this happen to one of his friends it brings him pain and a sick feeling.
Rip dawg you didn’t deserve that…. Every time I see one of my friends bleed out on camera or killed on camera, I feel a sick feeling I can’t even really explain… it puts me more and more back in survival mentality! pic.twitter.com/n9OntndgYb
— MeekMill (@MeekMill) September 13, 2022
Rock's stage name pays homage to the intersection of Pastorius and Baynton streets where he grew up. When he was 3 years old, his father was murdered. He was raised by his mother and spent much of his youth in-and-out of the juvenile system.
He was sentenced to 33 months in prison when he was 19 and began gravitating towards music during his incarceration. He told Paper Magazine in 2017 that he fell in love with Drake's music and started writing his own lyrics.
Rock's first mixtape, 'Real Bangaz,' was written while he was in prison and was released in 2014. The project's success landed him a record deal with Atlantic Records, where he released two studio albums, "Catch the Vibes" in 2017 and "TrapStar Turnt PopStar" in 2019.
His most popular song, "Selfish," which charted as high as number 51 on Billboard's Hot 100 list, came from his tape, "GTTM: Going Thru the Motions," which was released in 2016.
Rock collaborated with numerous artists during his career, including 2Chainz, Ed Sheeran, Young Thug, Wiz Khalifa and Kodak Black. He had just celebrated the release of his new single, "Luv Me Again," which was his first project as an independent artist after his partnership with Atlantic ended.
Luv Me Again out now!!!!!
— PnBRock (@PnBRock) September 2, 2022
produced by @dagotthatdope1 https://t.co/BrifrrOxG2
Since January 2019, three other popular rappers have been killed in Los Angeles. After the success of his debut album "Victory Lap," Nipsey Hussle was shot in front of his clothing store, The Marathon Clothing, on March 31, 2019.
Less than a year later, Pop Smoke was shot and killed in a home invasion at the house he was renting. In 2021, Draeko the Ruler was stabbed to death backstage at his performance at the Once Upon a Time Festival on Dec. 18.
