Today (Friday, November 17) marks the two-year anniversary of Young Dolph's tragic murder in his home city of Memphis. Moreover, his family, friends, collaborators, industry peers, community cohorts, and fans from all over the world poured their tributes out online. As saddening as this is, folks also took it upon themselves to celebrate the rapper's legacy, give back to his community, and preserve his impact within his circles and beyond. As such, the "Dolph Day" weekend event on this occasion expanded to multiple cities outside of Memphis, namely Chicago, Atlanta, and Dallas.
Furthermore, these community activities consisted of turkey giveaways, basketball tournaments, restaurant partnerships, hygiene kit giveaways, holiday dinners, and more. Many of Young Dolph's Paper Route Empire (PRE) label roster will participate in these, as well as plenty of other local rappers, businesspeople, community leaders, and the like. Also, this follows November 17 becoming the Adolf "Young Dolph" Thornton Jr. Day of Service in Tennessee and Georgia. In collaboration with PRE, his family's estate- the Ida Mae Foundation- handled all of this planning and execution to make sure that this year's Dolph Day was something special.
Young Dolph's "Dolph Day" Expands
Events like these help many mournful individuals, be they famous or not, focus on the positives that Young Dolph left behind, as much as his absence is a painful reality. "Landing in Memphis and not reaching out to my potna to get the fire is cr*zy man," Curren$y somberly shared on Twitter back in October. "Long live flipper," he concluded with a dolphin emoji. However, Dolph Day is an opportunity for folks to engage with their grief, give their respects, and share love, generosity, and humanity with each other in ways that much of rap music is unrightfully blocked from by media saturation, economic interests in perpetuating beef, and exploitation.
Meanwhile, this is taking place as the late MC's legal case continues to develop concerning his alleged murderers. Hopefully, that case also provides some closure and justice for his family. With the heartening and strong impact that Dolph Day yields in 2023, we can only hope that we continue to honor this legacy for years to come. For more news and the latest updates on Young Dolph- may he Rest In Peace- log back into HNHH.