With another great artist tragically gone too soon, the bridge to the next generation feels like it’s faltering
Rich Homie Quan in 2013. Prince Williams/FilmMagic
As tributes began to pour in on Thursday following the sudden death of rapper Rich Homie Quan (born Dequantes Lamar), one in particular stood out. Fellow Atlanta MC Quavo, one-third of the city’s legendary rap trio, Migos, posted a photo to his Instagram Stories. “May God be with US never saw this being apart of our journey,” he wrote on the picture that featured himself, fellow Migos Offset and Takeoff (who was killed in November 2022), Rich Homie Quan and the currently incarcerated and on trial Young Thug.
The frozen moment in time was a beautiful relic of five artists who reshaped the sound of hip-hop in the post-blog era of the early- to mid-2010s and a painful reminder of just how much the city and culture of Atlanta have sacrificed musically and culturally.
Rich Homie Quan, who would’ve turned 34 in October, was a time stamp of an artist. His unique blending of melodies and lyrical dexterity made him a flagship voice in Atlanta and hip-hop for the last decade. His hits became party anthems and battle cries such as “Flex (Ooh, Ooh, Ooh),” “Walk Thru,” YG’s “My Hitta,” and “Type of Way,” which the Michigan State University football team used as its theme song to propel it to a 2014 Rose Bowl victory over Stanford with Rich Homie Quan in the locker room afterward. Retired coach Mike Dantonio expressed his condolences on X, formerly known as Twitter. Like many rappers of the time, especially from the South, his catalog had numerous cult classic mixtapes (I Promise I Will Never Stop Going In with DJ Drama) and EPs. His one studio album, Rich as in Spirit, dropped in 2018.
His most memorable and genre-shifting project is preparing to celebrate its 10th anniversary Sept. 29. In 2014, Rich Homie Quan and Young Thug released Rich Gang: Tha Tour Part 1. At the time, Rich Homie Quan described it as the “best collabo since OutKast.” Turns out he was right. Over a sprawling 20-track odyssey, the two combined sounds, cadences and unorthodox rhyming schemes produced cult classics such as “Lifestyle,” “Tell ‘Em,” and “Freestyle.” Rolling Stone dubbed Tha Tour a “ridiculously fun mixtape” and announced the arrival of a “new rap supergroup.” HipHopDX praised the project, saying it felt almost “big enough to convince you these guys are Billboard-certified stars and not just warbling weirdo rap staples.”
Therein lies the crux of the pain caused by Quavo’s Instagram Stories photo, which seems distant because it is. Rich Homie Quan’s death is but another blow to the city’s rap scene, one that is no stranger to grief. Young Thug has been in jail for two years, and his RICO trial’s ending seems nowhere in sight. Bankroll Fresh, whose “Take Over Your Trap” has become a sports anthem, was killed in 2016 at age 28. Police closed the case in 2018 without making an arrest. “Bring It Back” rapper Trouble was killed in 2019 at 34 years old, and Lil Baby affiliate Lil Marlo died in 2020 at age 30 in a drive-by shooting. YSL/Young Thug affiliate Lil Keed died of liver and kidney failure at only 24 years old in 2022.
Takeoff’s death, much like the death of rapper Left Eye of TLC in 2022, robbed another legendary Atlanta trio of its future. Quavo and Offset are survivors of this era. Throughout social media, the remembrances continue to arrive for their peer in Rich Homie Quan expressing how great of an artist, but really a man, he was to be around. How generous of a person he was. And just how innovative he was for his short time in the spotlight. It is common post-death rhetoric, but the weight never becomes less truthful or somber.
Rapper Rich Homie Quan performs during the inaugural 2024 Gazebo Festival at Waterfront Park on May 25 in Louisville, Kentucky.
Stephen J. Cohen/Getty Images
The longer we live, the more we realize how present death is at all times. Rich Homie Quan, like so many others of his generation, and his success mirrored the memories they had fostered through their music. The drunk club nights or cookouts. The house parties that felt never-ending and the road trips that still dominate conversations in group chats. The memories are everlasting, but the success was never meant to be. With Rich Homie Quan’s death comes the age-old question that’s been asked of artists who died far too soon, long before he was born. Just what did he sacrifice for that success? And how much of his success was viewed as no longer his own?
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In a 2023 interview on Math Hoffa’s My Expert Opinion podcast, Rich Homie Quan spoke of his struggles with addiction. The “dark cloud,” as he called it then, was the root cause of why his music career faded.
“That was the lowest I was in my life. I went from here to here … fast! I blame myself,” he said.
When asked if he was on drugs, Rich Homie Quan didn’t hold back, citing heavy usage of the mind-altering drug molly. “Oh, hell yeah! I was molly every day. Geeked up! Piped down! I felt like I couldn’t do a song or show without being on molly.”
As for who introduced him to molly, “A family member.”
Rich Homie Quan’s girlfriend, Amber Williams, reportedly found him unresponsive on their couch. Early reports indicate a drug overdose as the cause of death. His peak as an artist was short but evermore undeniable and forever more timeless. That isn’t the most heartbreaking part. At 33, Rich Homie Quan is now the latest hip-hop ancestor. His memories now permanently reside in the past tense. And should it be that overdose led to his final moments, he is yet one of the latest names to succumb to America’s drug epidemic. Rich Homie Quan’s music will find pockets to live on as those who grew up on his music grow older. Music is supposed to outlive the artist. Nevertheless, the loss of Rich Homie Quan is significant.
Unfortunately, this territory is all too familiar for hip-hop — particularly the city of Atlanta.
Justin Tinsley is a senior culture writer for Andscape. He firmly believes “Cash Money Records takin’ ova for da ’99 and da 2000” is the single most impactful statement of his generation.
