Rest in peace, homie.
Bay Area rapper The Jacka, real name Dominic Newton, was gunned down in East Oakland sometime last night. The rapper, whose music was influential in the West Coast rap scene spanning more than two decades, was found with a fatal gunshot wound to the head at 94th Ave. and MacArthur Blvd. at 8:15 p.m., KPIX reported.
Police have no suspects at this time.
Newton, originally from Pittsburgh, made his debut in 1999 as part of the group Mob Figaz. Their album C-Bo’s Mob Figaz made it to No. 63 on Billboard’s Hip Hop chart.
The Jacka, who was heralded in the rap world for his skills as a writer, and who was also well known for being Muslim, released another album, What Happened to the World last year. The year prior, in 2013, he dropped another project with Freeway, Write My Wrongs, which was one of the most underrated projects of the year, put together by two of hip hop’s arguably most underrated emcees, as a prequel to their collaborative album Highway Robbery, which was held up for quite some time by legal and logistical issues, but finally dropped in late 2014, garnering nothing but rave reviews.
An outpouring of grief began on social media last night, with everyone from Wu-Tang’s Raekwon to Portland Trailblazers point guard Damian Lillard expressing their condolences to the fallen rapper, with Lillard tweeting ““R.I.P to “The Jacka” … Oakland Rap Legend ! Life was taken tonight IN OAKLAND. Got to do better toward our own man.”
Indeed, we do. Rest in peace. Our thoughts and prayers go out to everyone affected by his loss.
Listen Now: The Jacka Featuring Blahk Jesus, “2 Dungeons Deep”
Freeway And The Jacka Deliver ‘The Write My Wrongs’ Mixtape
Listen: The Jacka, Street Knowledge, & Joe Blow – Just Mob
