Today (Friday, November 17) marks the two-year anniversary of Young Dolph's tragic murder in his home city of Memphis. Moreover, his family, friends, collaborators, industry peers, community cohorts, and fans from all over the world poured their tributes out online. As saddening as this is, folks also took it upon themselves to celebrate the rapper's legacy, give back to his community, and preserve his impact within his circles and beyond. As such, the "Dolph Day" weekend event on this occasion expanded to multiple cities outside of Memphis, namely Chicago, Atlanta, and Dallas.
Furthermore, these community activities consisted of turkey giveaways, basketball tournaments, restaurant partnerships, hygiene kit giveaways, holiday dinners, and more. Many of Young Dolph's Paper Route Empire (PRE) label roster will participate in these, as well as plenty of other local rappers, businesspeople, community leaders, and the like. Also, this follows November 17 becoming the Adolf "Young Dolph" Thornton Jr. Day of Service in Tennessee and Georgia. In collaboration with PRE, his family's estate- the Ida Mae Foundation- handled all of this planning and execution to make sure that this year's Dolph Day was something special.
Young Dolph's "Dolph Day" Expands
Events like these help many mournful individuals, be they famous or not, focus on the positives that Young Dolph left behind, as much as his absence is a painful reality. "Landing in Memphis and not reaching out to my potna to get the fire is cr*zy man," Curren$y somberly shared on Twitter back in October. "Long live flipper," he concluded with a dolphin emoji. However, Dolph Day is an opportunity for folks to engage with their grief, give their respects, and share love, generosity, and humanity with each other in ways that much of rap music is unrightfully blocked from by media saturation, economic interests in perpetuating beef, and exploitation.
Meanwhile, this is taking place as the late MC's legal case continues to develop concerning his alleged murderers. Hopefully, that case also provides some closure and justice for his family. With the heartening and strong impact that Dolph Day yields in 2023, we can only hope that we continue to honor this legacy for years to come. For more news and the latest updates on Young Dolph- may he Rest In Peace- log back into HNHH.
About The Author
Gabriel Bras Nevares is a music and pop culture news writer for HotNewHipHop. He started in 2022 as a weekend writer and, since joining the team full-time, has developed a strong knowledge in hip-hop news and releases. Whether it’s regular coverage or occasional interviews and album reviews, he continues to search for the most relevant news for his audience and find the best new releases in the genre. What excites him the most is finding pop culture stories of interest, as well as a deeper passion for the art form of hip-hop and its contemporary output. Specifically, Gabriel enjoys the fringes of rap music: the experimental, boundary-pushing, and raw alternatives to the mainstream sound. As a proud native of San Juan, Puerto Rico, he also stays up-to-date with the archipelago’s local scene and its biggest musical exponents in reggaetón, salsa, indie, and beyond. Before working at HotNewHipHop, Gabriel produced multiple short documentaries, artist interviews, venue spotlights, and audio podcasts on a variety of genres and musical figures. Hardcore punk and Go-go music defined much of his coverage during his time at the George Washington University in D.C. His favorite hip-hop artists working today are Tyler, The Creator, Boldy James, JPEGMAFIA, and Earl Sweatshirt.
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