"He was easily the most original artist from the West Coast in a generation. In his music, he had the unique ability to make death, with its cheap suit and bad manners, seem like a droll, if malevolent, snake-oil salesman. His low-key register made him sound like he just woke up, looming like a groggy gangster who’d decided to spend the day cracking inappropriate jokes" - Rolling Stone looks back at the music of the slain rapper.

Rapper Drakeo the Ruler was fatally stabbed backstage at the Once Upon a Time in L.A. Festival in Los Angeles on Saturday night, TMZ reports. The 28-year-old rapper was stabbed with a knife during an altercation that took place around 8:30 p.m. local time. He was taken to an area hospital, where he succumbed to his injuries. Following the incident, the remainder of Once Upon a Time in L.A. was canceled, including headlining sets from 50 Cent and Snoop Dogg. LA Times reports about LA's hip-hop community mourning the loss of the rapper.

Afghan-born Hamburg-based producer Farhot shares 'Feel Ugly' featuring soulful Tiggs Da Author; Drakeo the Ruler shares mellow and ice-cool 'Too Icey'; Miss Lava share heavy and melodic psychedelia in 'Brotherhood of Eternal Love'; Algiers' members Lee Tesche and Ryan Mahan share a dark clubby song 'Stealth Empire' by their project Nun Gun; DJINN share a bit of exotic psychedelia 'Love Divine'.

Fast-rising West Coast rapper Drakeo the Ruler accepted a “sudden” plea deal offered for time served from the Los Angeles District Attorney’s office on Monday, and was released from prison after two and a half years behind bars, NPR reports. The 26-year-old was found not guilty of murder and attempted murder in July 2019, but was kept in jail based on two gang-related charges that rested on the bizarre assumption that his rap group, the Stinc Team, constituted a gang.

The Atlantic has a great article about America and its system in general, seen through the eyes of incarcerated rappers. Drakeo the Ruler has managed to record an album while in prison, although he has been kept in solitary confinement for months - “It’s like they keep tryna silence me ... That’s what all these protests are about, too”. L.A. rapper 03 Greedo, currently serving a 20-year sentence on drug-trafficking and weapons-possession charges, has recorded an album just before he had to go to prison - “Honestly, I could be a whole ’nother artist if I was from somewhere nicer”. BL Shirelle grew up surrounded by drug usage and crime, and she ended up in prison at age 18 - “they knew I was coming; my bed was prepared way before the act was even done”.

California gangsta rapper Drakeo the Ruler this week released his new album 'Thank You for Using GTL', a project recorded through a prison phone over the span of two weeks. The rapper was acquitted of murder in July of 2019, but the district attorney's office used his rap lyrics as proof to connect him to illegal activities. The 26-year-old transformed GTL, the inmate telecommunications system contracted by Los Angeles County, into his studio and created a project with his producer JOOGSZN. Passion of the Weiss calls it "miraculous, hard to listen to, perhaps indefinitely challenging as fighting the Los Angeles Police State becomes trendy enough for Santa Monica".