CD On Monday, September 12, the world lost another artist in the rap community. 

Rakim Allen, better known as rapper PnB Rock, was shot and killed during a robbery while dining with his girlfriend at Roscoe’s House of Chicken and Waffles in South Los Angeles. 

According to witnesses, a man approached Rock and demanded his jewelry. An argument arose between the two before the gunman opened fire at the artist. The suspect quickly removed Rock’s valuables and then ran outside to a waiting car. 

As of September 16, detectives are still looking for Rock’s killer. 

Investigators believe the suspect knew where to find Rock after his girlfriend uploaded a photo of her food to Instagram and tagged the restaurant, displaying their location. Minutes after the post was made, the rapper was shot. Rock was pronounced dead at the hospital at 1:59 pm. 

PnB Rock garnered a strong fan base during the span of his career and was best known for his 2016 hit “Selfish.” Rock collaborated with many artists such as the late XXXTentacion, Lil Baby and Ed Sheeran. 

Just a week before his death, PnB Rock spoke in an interview about an incident where he was being followed, by who he believed to be gang members, while out with his girlfriend and his daughter. In an interview with DJ Akademiks, Rock also spoke about how common it was for rappers to be targeted in robberies.

In an interview with the GH Falcon, freshman Daniel Simmons discussed PnB Rock’s impact on him. 

As a music creator, Simmons enjoys creating beats and credited Rock for being an inspiration in his artistic process. “His sound did influence the type of music I wanted to make,” said Simmons. 

Green Hope sophomore Vernon Williams also spoke about the death of the rapper. 

Although Williams did not listen to the rapper’s music, he expressed the sadness of PnB Rock’s death and shared his thoughts about the violence transpiring within the rap community.

“Stricter gun control since a majority of these deaths are caused by firearms and more aid for those who are less fortunate so that they won’t have to think about killing someone in order to make money could possibly help resolve the violence,” said Williams.

Daniel Simmons also believes that there are changes that can be made in order to lessen the amount of violence associated with the community.

“I feel like… making a catchy song and talking about drugs, guns, and robbing and harming others…is unnecessary,” said Simmons.

Although the two student’s tastes in music differ, they both agree that a change needs to be made and that the rapper’s death was harrowing.

“It is a tragedy that he had to die like that and I hope his family is doing alright,” said Vernon. 

The rapper leaves behind two daughters.