Update: It is confirmed that the two men that died along with King Von are identified as OTF associates OBlock Louie and Slutty.
The hip hop world learned that Chicago rapper King Von was shot and killed after an altercation outside of an Atlanta nightclub on Friday morning (Nov. 6). The “Took Her to the O” rapper was only 26-years-old when he lost his life to the senseless act. The Georgia Bureau of Investigation released a statement regarding the incident.
“On Friday, November 6, 2020, at approximately 4 AM, the GBI was requested to investigate an officer involved shooting at the Monaco Hookah Lounge in Atlanta, GA. The preliminary investigation indicates that Dayvon Bennett, aka King Von, and a group of men left the Opium Nightclub and went to the Monaco Hookah Lounge on 255 Trinity Avenue. Once there, two men approached the group in the parking lot, and the two groups of men started to argue with each other. The argument quickly escalated to gunfire between the two groups.”
The statement continues, “Atlanta Police Department Officers (off-duty and on-duty) responded. Two officers (one on-duty and one off-duty) fired shots at two locations. During the shooting incident, six men were shot during the group altercation and officer encounter. Bennett and two men died as a result of their injuries, and three were injured and are being treated at a hospital. No officers were injured in this incident. The GBI will continue its independent investigation. Once the investigation is complete, it will be submitted to the Fulton County District Attorney’s Office for review.”
It is being reported that allegedly King Von’s brother and a close friend were also shot and killed at the scene. However, authorities have not confirmed the identities of the other two victims killed in the shooting. Surveillance of the incident was released online early on Friday.
After the shooting, King Von was placed in a vehicle and taken to a nearby hospital where he was in critical condition. Many fans suspected that he would survive until it was confirmed on Instagram by DJChopsquad that he had passed away.
King Von, government name Dayvon Daquan Bennett, was raised on the south side of Chicago in an area hailed as O’Block or the Parkway Gardens housing complex. His bloodline spans a legacy of gang affiliation. He was the grandson of David Barksdale, also known as King David, the founder of the notorious Chicago gang Black Disciples or BD.
Barksdale would later unite with Gangster Disciples founder Larry Hoover — who went to prison at the age of 23 and is now serving a life sentence — to create the united Black Gangster Disciple Nation. Barksdale would die young at the age of 27 from kidney failure expedited by multiple gunshot wounds.
After Barksdale’s death and the incarceration of Hoover, an internal dispute would lead to the break up of the Black Disciples and Gangster Disciplines, also referred to as the GDs. The next few decades would consist of an ongoing rivalry that would result in the deaths of several gang members and up-and-coming rappers.
As tradition for Chicago’s Drill music scene, when an opp (opposition) would die the rival gang would mock and celebrate the death of the rival in several ways, including on social media and in rap songs. However, the dangerous tradition would also become a foretelling mark on the next person to die.
In an interview with DJ Akademiks on Nov. 4, King Von expressed that he was over having smoke with people to the point that lives were being negatively impacted.
“It ain’t that serious,” King Von said in the interview. “It’s to the point where, let’s sit down and let’s talk about [our issues], fuck that shit. If both of us rappers, we can figure some shit out. We need to stop this shit, all the violence — We got a voice, you see what I’m saying.”
He also talked about his neighborhood O’Block and how impoverished and dangerous the area is due to low-income housing, single mothers, and the mentality of the area.
“Enough is enough,” he continued. “Everybody in jail, everybody dead. Uh, uh. Enough is Enough…We trying to expand, everybody is just trying to get some money and trying to take care of their people. I don’t want nobody to be broke and dirty their whole life.”
At one point, DJ Akademiks brought up Shondale “Tooka” Gregory, a 15-year-old St. Lawrence Boys (STL) gang member (a subset of the GDs) who was shot multiple times as he waited for a bus on Jan. 12, 2011. His death spurred a war between rival Chicago gangs that would lead to the shooting death of 20-year-old Odee Perry, in which O’Block is named after.
King Von has mentioned Tooka in his rap music and social media by saying the phrase “smoking Tooka.” Ak asked King Von would he ever consider letting Tooka rest in peace. The rapper responded that he says the name repeatedly because it’s the name of a strain of weed that his friend and fellow gang member Chief Keef patented. Chief Keef had also used Tooka’s name in his song 3Hunna,” which made the late Tooka go viral.
“I just seen a tweet saying you want to catch him in the afterlife and beat him up,” Ak reminded King Von.
King Von’s taunting of Tooka has been a point of contention for the BDs and GDs, with many waiting for King Von’s downfall. Now that King Von has passed, there are several rival gang members and fake fans mocking his death.
Another 26-year-old Chicago rapper, FBG Duck, was killed in August while shopping. Although from two different gangs, the senseless murders of King Von and FBG Duck, born Carlton Weekly, only three months apart have one commonality; these men are both young, black men who turned their negative circumstances into a productive rap career, yet they could not escape the curse of Chicago’s South side, which seems to sentence their prototypes to prison or death. This is despite King Von moving to Atlanta in 2019 to elevate his rap career.
The curse extends beyond Chicago. Atlanta has seem the same tribulations with the loss of Lil Marlo. Los Angeles knows the pain all too well with the loss of Nipsey Hussle. Even Houston is stuck in the vicious cycle with a number of rappers being killed by gunfire this year.
Upon hearing of King Von’s death, rapper Gillie Da Kid, who started his reign in Philadelphia, had enough of the foolishness and made an appeal to young black men to stop the violence.
Even when death tends to follow Chicago rappers, Chief Keef and Lil Durk have managed to stay alive. But, with no ceasing of the violence in sight, many are saying that Lil Durk is next. Let’s hope not.
King Von is survived by his three children.
