It's been a hard week for hip-hop fans, which was made even more difficult after the shooting death of Mo3.
Mo3, who recently collaborated on a full-length project with Boosie Badazz, was one of Dallas' leading voices in rap, breaking himself as an artist to the point where he was able to financially provide for his family. On Wednesday (November 11), Mo3 was in his car on the way to a movie shoot that he was a part of, getting stuck in a traffic jam. He was on I-35 when somebody ran to his car on foot and started chasing him. Mo3 reportedly exited his vehicle and ran in the opposite direction, but the man opened fire, shooting and killing the rising star.
Considering it hadn't even been a full week since King Von suffered a fatal gunshot wound, Mo3's tragedy was a hard blow for the hip-hop community to absorb. The rapper's manager, Brandon Rainwater, had been working with him since the beginning of his career, speaking with a local CBS affiliate about why this should not be a sad time for his fans.
"I watched him rise as a star, from a regular kid, basically homeless when I met him, to a person with power and enough revenue to support his family," said Rainwater about Mo3. "In raps he told his story and told the stories of other people around here that were going through the same struggles that he went through growing up. He spoke for the black community, the white community, the Mexican community, for all races. We lost a good speaker, a poet, an artist."
His manager remembers him as a caring father of three young children who had recently donated to several local initiatives to raise money for those struggling during the pandemic.
"He never cared what anybody else said about you. He took how he looked at you and that’s how he looked at you. He didn’t care about the surrounding sounds. He gave me a job. I ain’t ever been nobody," added Rainwater. "It’s not a time to be sad. From decade to decade his kids will still be a part of him and be successful because of him. So if he was here right now he would be here smiling saying, ‘I lived my life’."
Rest in peace, Mo3.