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Memphis is the hometown of numerous unforgettable rappers, but their legacies can't compare to the empire Young Dolph built for himself while he was with us.
On July 27, 1985, Adolf Robert Thornton, Jr. aka Young Dolph was born in Chicago. Two years later, his family moved to Memphis where he went to live with his grandmother, who raised him after his parents became addicted to crack. His grandmother was tough to say the least, but she was the first person who taught him how to move independently. This mindset would follow him through his life and well into his music career.
In 2008, Young Dolph dropped his first mixtape Paper Route Campaign. Two years later, he went on to form his own label Paper Route Empire and dropped his second mixtape Welcome 2 Dolph World featuring 2 Chainz and 8Ball. By 2011, Dolph had four mixtapes that were making waves for him and his label. It drew so much attention that Yo Gotti was interested in signing him to his Collective Music Group in 2014. However, Dolph declined in order to remain independent.
After appearing on hit records like O.T. Genesis' "Cut It," Dolph finally released his debut album King of Memphis via his Paper Route Empire label in 2016. The 11-track project contained his smash hit "Get Paid" produced by Reazy Renegade and features production from Mike WiLL Made-It, TM88, Zaytoven, Nard & B and Drumma Boy. With no kind of commercial label push, the album landed at no. 49 on the Billboard 200. Despite Dolph's success with his debut LP, other Memphis artists like Gotti and his artist Blac Youngsta didn't take kindly to the album's title.
A couple of weeks after Dolph's album dropped, footage of Blac Youngsta searching for Dolph with a crew of armed street soldiers hit social media. Afterward, Youngsta dropped his diss track "Shake Sum" aimed at the PRE founder. In 2017, Dolph responded by hurling his own diss track "Play Wit Yo B***h" at Gotti, which prompted a war of words between them. The day after Dolph dropped his video for the song, the rapper's car was shot at 100 times in Charlotte while he was in town for a show.
Luckily for Dolph, the vehicle had bulletproof panels and no one was injured. Youngsta and his associates were arrested for the shooting but charges were dropped due to insufficient evidence. After using the incident to promote his sophomore album Bulletproof, Dolph was shot again a few months later after a fight in Los Angeles turned physical. He survived the shooting and dropped his N****s Get Shot Everyday EP in 2018, which references the incident.
From that point, things started to pick up for Dolph. Paper Route Empire signed a deal with Empire Records, which kept it's independent status intact. He even signed his cousin-by-marriage Key Glock and dropped several joint effort with him. Unfortunately, Young Dolph lost his life after he was shot and killed in front of a bakery he went to all the time in his hometown of Memphis. He was shot 22 times. The suspected gunmen were captured two months after the shooting.
Since his death, Empire has released a posthumous tribute album Long Live Young Dolph in January 2022. The compilation album features the "LLD (Long Live Dolph)" and appearances from all of his PRE artists. Happy birthday to Young Dolph, and may he rest in peace.