Lil Kee

The talented rapper Lil Kee (not to be confused with the early 2010s Florida rapper of the same moniker) was born on 4^th January 1999 in Prichard, Alabama, USA, and later moved to Marietta, Georgia, where he’s currently based. Some sources state that the recording artist was actually born in 2001; his exact height and weight are also unknown.

Childhood/Family

In his only interview to date, with DGB Media, Kee – whose birth name is unknown – described his childhood as ‘straight’ and said that he had a lot of brothers and sisters. When asked if he was the oldest, youngest, or somewhere in the middle, the rapper deadpanned: ‘There was about eight of us, I don’t even know.’

At just 13 or 14 years old, the musician turned to the streets in hopes of a better life. Along the way, he learnt many painful but valuable lessons, such as the importance of keeping your circle small and not making too many so-called friends.

Despite not revealing much in interviews, Kee uses his music as an outlet and previously provided his fans with some insight into his childhood with the song “Hear Me Out”. If the rapper’s lyrics are to be believed, his mother was an alcoholic and his father a drug addict.

Career

Known for his hazy, lo-fi inspired beats and hard-hitting lyrics, Kee began releasing music in 2019, and built up his loyal fanbase with hits such as “Swing My Way” and “Hear Me Out”. The artist was inspired to get into the studio after learning that one of his cousins in Alabama had died, as he wanted to keep his name and memory alive by any means possible. At first, one of Kee’s older brothers helped him write his lyrics. However, the rapper soon found it easier to just hop in the booth and start freestyling.

By 2020, Kee’s singles had amassed hundreds of thousands of streams, and he’d signed with 4PF, the record label founded by fellow Atlanta rapper Lil Baby. From then on, Kee would frequently collaborate with other 4PF signees such as Rylo Rodriguez, and he also joined forces with Baby’s peer Lil Durk for the catchy 2022 track “Bop Him”.

No love?out now pic.twitter.com/rYbCtDDjWv

— Lil kee ⚡️ (@l1lkee) November 25, 2020

The death of Kee’s older brother Lamar, who was the provider of the family, left a long-lasting impact on the Alabama native. Since the tragic incident in September 2020, he has made sure to mention Lamar in all his projects, such as his first full-length album “Letter 2 My Brother”, which was released in 2022.

Lamar’s legacy not only lives on in Kee’s music, but on his social media – and the rapper even tattooed his name above his eyebrow. According to online sources, Lamar was found dead in his house and had been shot several times; some believe that this was a premeditated homicide due to Lamar’s gang affiliations.

Although the exact terms of Kee’s contract with 4PF were never revealed, in August 2023 it was announced that the rapper had been dropped by Lil Baby’s label. Some netizens speculate that Baby is merely trying to stay out of legal trouble, following reports that he and his imprint were being investigated by federal prosecutors for a possible racketeering – RICO – charge; this would make sense, as Kee is known to brag about his gang lifestyle, flash guns on social media, and taunt his dead enemies.

As it happens, 4PF as a label appears to be defunct, perhaps to avoid further association with the Atlanta street gang of the same name. In August 2023, Lil Baby launched Glass Window Entertainment in partnership with Motown Records and Capitol Music Group; Rylo Rodriguez was the first official signee, but no other signees have been confirmed just yet.

In any case, Kee continues to steadily release music with or without Baby’s backing. The rapper, who started off 2024 with the track “Hangin’ Out Tha Window”, has been keeping himself busy in the studio and is constantly teasing new singles. In early 2023, he also released an EP with contributions from Lil Meechee, Noodah05, and Rylo Rodriguez.

 

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Personal Life

Despite Kee’s dating life being a total mystery, we can confirm that he is a devoted father to his young daughter, who appeared in the music video for “Feelings Everywhere”. It is unclear whether or not the rapper is in a relationship with his child’s unnamed mother.

Moving on to Kee’s gang affiliations and rivals, in 2018 a young man who went by the name of Meko was shot outside a store in Marietta, and later that night passed away at a local hospital – and it didn’t take long for Kee to diss him in his music with lines such as: ‘I might post up at the store where Meko died… If God gave you a chance at life again, I’d still wish you dead.’

At the time of his death, Meko was part of a small Atlanta gang known as the Muchobabies, and Kee’s song obviously didn’t go down well with its remaining member: in fact, some believe that Lamar’s death was a direct consequence of the diss.

In “Letter 2 My Brother”, Kee mourned the loss of Lamar while continuing to taunt his rivals and warning them that he’d get his revenge sooner or later. This is when Meko’s associate and smalltime Atlanta rapper Lil Crank joined the conversation, rapping in the song “Murder She Wrote”: ‘Yeah we did that on purpose, this here won’t take us 20 years, gon’ do him like the first one.’ Later on in the song, Crank added that when Meko died, he hadn’t posted anything on social media – he’d just ‘slid’ (killed someone).

Lil Crank has been active in the streets since 2017, which is when he dropped out of high school and joined the Muchobabies. In April 2020, he returned home after spending eight months in prison for gang activity, and somehow got in touch with the producer DJ Holiday, who surprised Crank by booking him a studio session with his favorite rapper, Lil Durk.

Crank and Durk never released anything, perhaps due to Durk’s connection to Lil Baby, who had by then signed Kee to 4PF. In any case, the beef between the Muchobabies and Kee’s gang has shown no signs of slowing down, as Crank himself was shot in 2023 – and even shot a music video in the hospital while he was meant to be recovering.

Regarding Kee’s net worth, he’s believed to be worth just $250,000, due to his current situation as an independent artist who relies on tours for the bulk of his income.

Ethan Reyes

Ethan Reyes, stage name Notti Osama, was a promising young rapper who made headlines when stabbed to death in a brawl at just 14 years old. The horrifying incident took place at a Manhattan subway station in July 2022, and resulted in an outpouring of support from Ethan’s friends and loved ones, including his older brother David DeShaun Reyes (stage name DD Osama), who is an aspiring drill rapper himself.

‘Why did you leave me?’ David wrote in the aftermath of Ethan’s death. ‘Why you tell me that death is easy?’.

The deadly scuffle between Ethan and his 15-year-old rival, Kelvin Martinez, took place at three in the afternoon on a Saturday. According to law enforcement sources, Ethan and Kelvin had had a long-running feud, although the exact motives behind Ethan’s stabbing remain unknown. Despite being promptly transported to Mount Sinai Morningside Hospital, the musician was declared dead.

Friends of Ethan held a candlelight memorial in Manhattan shortly after his death, with one of his associates describing the rapper as ‘the life of the party’ with a ‘million-dollar smile’. Ethan was born on 17^th January 2008, in Harlem, New York, USA, and was reportedly 5ft 4in (162cm) tall at the time of his passing.

Those who were hoping to see Kelvin in jail for the stabbing were left disappointed, as in October 2022 the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office ended its manslaughter case against the teenager. Although the decision was a hard one to make, prosecutors were forced to drop the case after reviewing video surveillance and witness interviews, as they were unable to disprove beyond reasonable doubt that Kelvin was defending himself when he stabbed Ethan.

Verdict

At the time of Ethan’s death, he and his family had recently relocated from Harlem to Yonkers, perhaps due to gang-related problems. On the day of the stabbing, he was hanging out in his old neighborhood of Hamilton Heights with two associates when they spotted Kelvin. Ethan grabbed a broom handle to defend himself, and he and his friends followed Kelvin into the subway station, cornering him at the end of the platform. Surveillance footage then shows that Kelvin stabbed Ethan in the abdomen after being hit with the broom handle.

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After stabbing Ethan, Kelvin was knocked onto the subway tracks and had a sharp object thrown at him which left puncture wounds on his body. Ethan collapsed on the platform, whereas Kelvin managed to pull himself off the tracks and depart the scene. Later that day, his mother brought him to the police station to speak to detectives.

At first, police claimed that Kelvin would be charged with second-degree murder. However, prosecutors only filed a first-degree manslaughter charge against him. In the weeks leading up to the court case, investigators looked into Kelvin’s claims, as the teenager alleged that Ethan’s associates had assaulted him prior to the murder. As the case was ultimately dismissed, all court records were sealed, and the story appeared to die down when Ethan’s family declined to comment on the verdict.

Family

Ethan’s death sparked a huge online discourse about the violent culture that permeates rap music, especially the drill subgenre. Nevertheless, his brother David continues to rap, and has amassed two million followers on Instagram, with his follower count shooting up after Ethan’s untimely demise.

David is the third of six siblings, and released his first song, “Aftermath”, alongside Ethan and fellow rapper Blockwork in 2021. In June of the same year, David’s music began receiving attention, but it took a year for his collaboration with Ethan, “Dead Opps”, to become popular. Shortly after Ethan passed away, David also released “E.4.N”, which stands for “Everything for Notti”.

 

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Since then, David has collaborated with the likes of Lil Baby, Rylo Rodriguez, Coi Leray, and Lil Durk, who are all considered heavy hitters in the rap industry. In December 2022, he joined forces with New York rapper Lil Mabu for their single and music video “Throw”, and just two months later he worked with Coi on “Upnow”. His first album, “Here 2 Stay”, launched in May 2023 to positive fan reviews, and spawned two versions of the single “Let’s Do It”.

David, who traveled the States with Lil Durk in July 2023 as a supporting artist on the “Sorry for the Drought” tour, is affiliated to the OY (Original Youngins) gang and flaunts his gang affiliation via his music and social media posts.

More recently, David dropped his long-awaited collaboration with Sugarhill DDot, “Baby Wait”, as well as the single “2 Deep”. Although the rapper has a long way to go to reach mainstream recognition, he’s currently signed to Alamo Records, which is part of Sony Music, and has everything necessary to make it big in the music industry.

Moving on to Ethan’s other siblings, he has two other brothers who are drill rappers and go by the stage names of JayKlickin and JStar Balla. Jay’s birth name is Justin Reyes, and he was reportedly born in January 2005, making him the second-oldest of the Reyes siblings. Despite not having reached his younger brother’s level of fame, Justin is known for songs such as “Pain”, “Life Goes On”, and “Love Me”. The rapper signed to a record label in 2020, which allowed him a budget to film music videos, and promote his works to a wider audience.

As for JStar Balla, he is the oldest Reyes brother, born in 1990. Although there’s a considerable age gap between JStar and his younger siblings, they’re close as can be and often post each other’s music on social media. Some doubt that JStar will ever become a prominent rap artist, and feel that he’s capitalizing off his younger brothers’ notoriety, but it must be said that the musician has grown a respectable fanbase, and has thousands of monthly Spotify listeners thanks to hits such as “Like This” and “All Stars”.

Next up is Melz, the only Reyes sister that we know of. As Melz has no interest in the music industry and rarely posts on social media, her digital footprint is a considerably smaller one: in fact, she’s mainly posted by her brothers’ fan pages, and is so lowkey that her real name and birthday are a mystery.