Tributes paid after Houston underground rap legend BeatKing dies, age 39

nme.com:

A post shared by Tasha Felder (@super_manager)BeatKing – real name Justin Riley – was father to two daughters, as reported by ABC News Houston.

TMZ report that he passed away following a pulmonary embolism.He was perhaps best known for his 2020 breakout song ‘Then Leave’, which featured Queendome Come and became a viral TikTok hit that year.

The track, taken from his album ‘Gangsta Stripper Music 4’, rose to Number 3 on the Billboard Bubbling Under Hot 100 chart.He began his live music experience by playing the drums alongside family members in church while growing up in Houston but later established with Club Godzilla persona with the 2010 mixtape ‘Kings Of The Club’.His music revolved around cranked up 808s and hooky chant-like choruses and drew heavily from Southern rap traditions.Last year, BeatKing appeared on the posthumous album by Three 6 Mafia member Gangsta Boo, alongside the likes of Run The Jewels, Skepta and Latto, having previously been a prolific collaborator with the rapper, dating back to the influential mixtape ‘Underground Cassette Tape Music’ in 2014.He also was the original feature on Megan Thee Stallion’s ‘THICK’ in 2020, which was later remixed with DJ Chose.Over the course of his career, BeatKing also worked alongside the likes of 2 Chainz, Ludacris and Juicy J, and earlier this year he joined Nicki Minaj on stage in Houston.See some tributes to BeatKing below:Nicki Minaj sends condolences to BeatKing’s family and fans.