The Atlanta hip-hop star Rich Homie Quan rose to fame nationally in 2013 with his first hit single “Type of Way” and had a short but intense burst of success. He died Thursday.
Rich Homie Quan, an Atlanta native who was instrumental in that city’s takeover of hip-hop’s sound and attitude in the mid 2010s, has died. The rapper’s rapid ascent, alongside peers like Young Thug, with whom he partnered in the group Rich Gang, resulted in a string of hits that switched rap’s lingua franca from staccato rhythms to melodic flows. His death was confirmed to NPR by his father, Corey Lamar, who did not provide a cause of death. He was 34.
When a beloved artist dies, it’s almost impossible to boil their life down to a handful of Billboard Hot 100-charting hits. And Rich Homie stamped his imprint onto plenty of them — seven to be exact — all within a two-year blitz between 2013 and 2015 that took him from scrappy unknown to an inescapable force in the industry. They read like the roll call of an era when Atlanta rap overtook the sound of pop and made him the industry’s cleanup hitter: “Type of Way,” YG’s “My Hitta,” Rich Gang’s “Lifestyle,” “Walk Thru,” “Flex (Ooh, Ooh, Ooh),” the Fast and Furious franchise’s “Ride Out,” even Lil Dicky’s “Save Dat Money.”
A son of East Atlanta, Quan quietly cultivated his talent for years in his mother’s basement and even during a short prison stint before exploding onto the charts almost overnight. From the beginning, Quan fought to distinguish himself in a city full of young hopefuls. He connected with “Differences,” a song from his 2012 mixtape Still Going In, that showcased his hunger and made him one to watch.
