Up-and-coming rapper Lil Yase has been shot dead in California, according to his record label.
The “Top Dog” rapper — whose real name is Mark Antonyyo Alexander — was 25.
“We appreciate all the love and support,” Yase’s label, Highway 420 Productions, wrote in alongside an Instagram tribute Saturday, hours after he was shot dead in the Bay area.
“Yase loved his fans, he worked every day for y’all. We have hundreds of songs coming for you. Please repost and share let the world know who the “Top Dog” is,” the label said.
Local rap blog The Thizzler also said it was “saddened to learn” that he had been “shot and killed” early Saturday.
“He was a legend in the Bay Area rap scene and held it down for San Francisco,” the site said. “We’re sick about the news and send prayers & positive energy to his family.”
Sources told TMZ that Yase had been hanging out late Friday with his crew in a studio in Marin County, north of San Francisco, when he left on his own and said he would return soon.
Less than two hours later, the group started getting word that he had been shot dead in the East Bay, which is at least an hour’s drive away, the site said.
TMZ said Yase’s inner-circle is “dumbfounded” as the rapper — who often rapped about guns and shootings — “had no known enemies” and “no beef with anyone anywhere.”
