Rapper Lil Poppa has died at the age of 25.
His death is under investigation.
Born Janarious Mykel Wheeler, Lil Poppa was from Jacksonville, Florida, but was pronounced dead at 11:23 a.m. on Feb. 18 in Fulton County, Georgia, TMZ reported.
The medical examiner’s office released a statement to WSB, saying, “At present, both the cause and manner of death are pending investigation.”
An autopsy is scheduled for Thursday. They did not provide a location for his death.
Lil Poppa had signed with Yo Gotti’s CMG label in 2022 and worked with Gotti, Polo G, Rylo Rodriguez, Toosi and several others over the past few years.
He had just released his “Out of Town Bae” single on Feb. 13 and his “Almost Normal Again” 16-song album dropped in August, TMZ reported. He was on tour last year and was preparing to perform a show in New Orleans next month.
Two projects hit the Billboard 200 after their release _— “Blessed, I Guess” hit No. 160 in 2021 and “Under Investigation 3″ made it to No. 194 in 2022. His “Heavy is the Head” reached No. 4 on the Heatseekers Albums chart in 2022, according to Billboard.
Lil Poppa spoke to Audiomack in 2021, talking about how his fans told him his music got them through their “toughest times.”
“That means a lot. That makes me realize I got the power to change someone’s outlook on a certain situation. So I need to be mature enough to handle my own situations in a mature way,” Lil Poppa said at the time, according to People magazine.
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