Drakeo the Ruler dies after stabbing at Los Angeles music festival
No arrests have been made after Drakeo the Ruler was stabbed in a backstage melee
Rapper Drakeo the Ruler has died after being stabbed at the Once Upon a Time in L.A. concert Saturday night in Los Angeles.
The 28-year-old Los Angeles native, whose given name is Darrell Caldwell, was attacked by a group of people and stabbed during the altercation at Exhibition Park. No one has been arrested as of yet, the Los Angeles Times reports.
Caldwell was transported by paramedics to a local hospital and was admitted in critical condition. He later died from his injuries.
Drakeo was one of several performers, including Snoop Dogg and 50 Cent, scheduled to appear during the Once Upon a Time in L.A. concert. He was backstage when a fight broke out and was reportedly stabbed in the neck during the melee. The event was canceled shortly after the incident, TMZ reports.
“There was an altercation in the roadway backstage,” Live Nation, the event organizer, said in a statement. “Out of respect for those involved and in coordination with local authorities, artists and organizers decided not to move forward with remaining sets so the festival was ended an hour early.”
The Los Angeles Police Department commented on the incident on Twitter Saturday night, writing: “The festival has concluded early. LAPD will be in the area assisting [California Highway Patrol] with the investigation.”
Caldwell released his first mixtape, I Am Mr. Mosely in 2015, and would go on to serve up 9 more mixtapes, with the most recent, So Cold I Do Em 2, released earlier this month. Drakeo’s debut album, The Truth Hurts, was released this past February. Earlier this year, he collaborated with Drake on the single “Talk to Me.” The Canadian-born rapper reacted to news of Drakeo’s death on social media, writing on his Instagram stories: “Nah man this shit isn’t right for real wtf are we doing. Always picked my spirit up with your energy. RIP Drakeo.”
Drakeo recorded his 2020 album, Thank You for Using GTL, while incarcerated at Men’s Central Jail in Los Angeles. In November 2020, he was released after serving three years for gun charges and his alleged involvement in the 2016 shooting death of a 24-year-old man in Carson, California, where two others were injured outside a party, according to reports.
Drakeo insisted on his innocence at the time and was acquitted in July 2019. However, charges of criminal gang conspiracy and shooting from a motor vehicle were refiled by the district attorney, per the report.
Drakeo was released late last year with time served after agreeing to plead guilty to the shooting, according to NPR.
Speaking to Rolling Stone in March, Drakeo opened up about his post-jail plans amid the COVID-19 pandemic.
“I really like making music now,” he said. “It means a lot ‘cause [before] I didn’t really care about it like that.”
“I just want people to know that I’m here to stay,” he continued. “I want them to take my music seriously and feel everything. I mean, a lot of people know about my story … but I want them to know I had to go through a lot to get the things that I got. I might talk a certain way or say certain things, but I’ve been through a lot in my life. I want them to feel what I went through. When I did the song for the homie [“Long Live the Greatest”], people told me, ‘I feel you,’ and, ‘I know what you was going through.’ I want them to know that I’m a real person, that we’re the same.”
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