Young Dolph was a rap legend in Memphis but it appears some people don’t want him to be honored as such. A mural honoring the late rapper was vandalized with paint in South Memphis.
According to FOX13Memphis.com’s report, published on Thursday (July 21), a Young Dolph mural, commissioned by the late rapper’s family and the Ida Mae Foundation, was defaced by two vandals with paint during the wee hours of the night last week. Local artist Cameron Hill started working on the project four months ago at King Of Discounts Mini Mart in South Memphis. On Tuesday, Hill decided to take a break from painting after receiving some mean correspondences.
“I started receiving hateful messages, hateful phone calls, so I paused for a day,” he told the news outlet.
Understandably, Hill is disappointed by what the vandals did to his mural, which he wanted to have completed by what would have been Dolph’s 37th birthday on July 27. But those plans have now been interrupted.
There is surveillance video which shows the two vandals defacing the mural with paint. Watch it below.
On Instagram, Hill posted a video of the damaged artwork and said he knows who is responsible for defacing the mural. Despite the setback, the artist said it won’t stop his shine.
"I’m a king and I’m going to conduct myself as such," he wrote in the caption of his IG video below. "One thing for sure I don’t fear no man and I’m not going to tuck my tail and run. I stand on what I believe in."
Young Dolph, born Adolph Thornton, Jr., was shot and killed inside Makeda’s Homemade Butter Cookies last November. Two men—Justin Johnson and Cornelius Smith—have been charged in his murder.