Photo Credit: Charles M. Robinson / CC by 4.0
Rapper Rich Homie Quan has died at age 34, according to the Fulton County medical examiner’s office, but a cause of death has not yet been revealed.
Atlanta rapper Rich Homie Quan, best known for his hits “Flex (Ooh, Ooh, Ooh)” and “Type of Way,” as well as his collaborations with Young Thug, has passed away, according to the Fulton County medical examiner’s office. A cause of death has not yet been revealed. He was 34.
Born Dequantes Devontay Lamar, Rich Homie Quan played baseball at DeKalb County’s Ronald E. McNair High School. It was there that he learned creative writing, crediting his teacher Miss Butch for inspiring him. In a 2018 essay for Talkhouse, he wrote, “She’d be like, ‘I just want you to write. Close your eyes and just think about what you’re writing about.’ And every time I would close my eyes, they would turn to poems.”
Though Quan ended up jailed after high school, he focused on reading and writing during his incarceration, hoping to make himself into a “legitimate rapper.” He told XXL in 2014, “When I got locked up, I started to think about everything I was good at. When I was a kid, I loved to read. Literature was my favorite subject. I loved creative writing classes. So when I got locked up, I read my first book in jail. I have been reading for years, but I read my first book in jail with understanding.”
“When I learned how to really read a book, it took my mind to another place,” he continued. “So after that, then I started writing poems, and after that, my poems didn’t sound like poems, they sounded like rhymes. I was like, ‘Let me see if I can put it on a beat.’”
He released his first mixtape in 2012, I Go In On Every Song, and followed it up soon after with Still Goin In and Still Goin In – Reloaded. It was the latter release that contained his breakout hit, “Type of Way,” which peaked at No. 50 on the Billboard Hot 100. The track was re-released by Def Jam Recordings, which also made Rich Homie Quan a much-sought collaborator, who went on to work with YG on “My N—a,” and Yo Gotti’s “I Know.”
But it was Cash Money Records co-founded Birdman who recognized the undeniable chemistry between Quan and fellow Atlantan Young Thug, putting them together in Rich Gang. Rich Gang: Tha Tour Pt. 1 became notable as a foundational sound for Atlanta 2010’s rap. Unfortunately, the group’s promised tour never panned out.
Many artists have paid tribute to Rich Homie Quan on social media, including 2 Chainz, with whom he had worked earlier this summer on the single, “Ah’chi.” 2 Chainz wrote, “Dam lil brother, we just spoke about shooting a video. Special prayer for you and your family, and pray for any and everybody that’s dealing with something.”
Quan’s death is speculated to be the result of a drug overdose, but this has yet to be confirmed by the medical examiner’s office.
