Rapper Drakeo the Ruler fatally stabbed at LA music festival
SAN BERNARDINO, CALIFORNIA - DECEMBER 12: Rapper Drakeo the Ruler performs onstage during Rolling Loud at NOS Events Center on December 12, 2021 in San Bernardino, California. (Photo by Scott Dudelson/Getty Images)
LOS ANGELES - Los Angeles rapper Drakeo the Ruler has died after being stabbed outside of a concert at the Banc of California Stadium, according to multiple reports.
Los Angeles officials have not yet confirmed the victim's identity, or death, but one of the rapper's representatives confirmed the information with Rolling Stone magazine.
According to the California Highway Patrol, a fight broke out behind the main stage around 8:30 p.m. During the altercation, the rapper was severely injured by a suspect wielding an edged weapon.
Drakeo, whose real name is Darrell Caldwell, was taken to the hospital in critical condition. He had just turned 28 on Dec. 1.
The stabbing occurred at the Once Upon a Time in LA Music Festival, which was slated to run from 11 a.m. to 11 p.m. Saturday, but was shut down early by police and firefighters, Officer G. Todd of the Los Angeles Police Department's Operations Center said.
Video from the scene on social media showed several people arguing and fighting outside the concert just before the stabbing.
Overnight, social media was filled with tributes to Caldwell, including one from fellow rapper Drake, who collaborated with him earlier this year on the song "Talk to Me."
"Nah man this s--- isn't right for real, wtf are we doing," Drake wrote on Instagram alongside a photo of the two together.
Rapper Snoop Dogg, who was also at the festival, tweeted a statement saying in part, "I’m saddened by the events that took place last night at the Once Upon a Time in LA festival. I was in my dressing room when I was informed about the incident and chose to immediately leave the festival grounds."
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Artists including Al Green, Snoop Dogg, 50 Cent, Ice Cube, the Isley Brothers and Cypress Hill were scheduled to perform.
Caldwell was a Los Angeles native who has released 10 mixtapes since 2015 and put out his first studio album earlier this year titled "I Am Mr. Mosely."
Critics have cited his unique flow and "oddly expressive, poetic word- choices." The Los Angeles Times called him "the most original West Coast stylist in decades."
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