The family of Young Dolph released a statement Wednesday just a week after the Memphis rapper was fatally shot while getting cookies at a local bakery.
Dolph’s family’s statement included a quote from author Rudyard Kipling that read: “If you can talk with the crowd and keep your virtue, or walk with Kings-nor lose the common touch; If neither foes nor loving friends can hurt you; If all men count with you, but none too much; If you can fill the unforgiving minute with 60 seconds worth of distance run- Yours is the earth and everything that’s in it, And-which is more-you’ll be a man my son.”
You can read the statement in full below.
“There are no words that exist, that sufficiently express the pain we are feeling as a family. Losing Adolph, Dolph, Man-Man, changes our lives forever. And while we will take each day as it comes, we are comforted in knowing that he leaves a legacy that reflects his heart. A heart that was for his family. A heart that was for the people.
“We are grateful for the outpouring of love. We are grateful that his godly obligation to show kindness to the world is being acknowledged.
“As a family, we were blessed to call him our son, our nephew, our brother, our cousin, our partner and our Father. And now, we have the honor of calling him our angel. A role he has always played.”
Last Wednesday, Dolph was shot and killed in his hometown of Memphis. The late rapper was visiting a bakery when multiple suspects drove up and fired at Dolph. After videos began to surface from the scene of the crime, police confirmed Dolph was the victim.
Makeda’s Cookies, the Black-owned bakery that Dolph frequented and the place he was killed at, revealed plans to rename the rapper’s favorite cookie—chocolate chip—after him.
“That was one thing that Dolph did, [he] used to say when you get off the expressway. He was like, ‘I can smell y’all. I’m getting off the expressway. I had to come in,” operations manager Raven Winton said. “To know that we’re not going to see that face anymore is… I’m trying to hold back tears.”
The location that Dolph was murdered at will remain closed through the rest of the year as Makeda’s continues to mourn with the rest of Memphis. A GoFundMe page was launched to help repair the store, which was damaged in the fatal shooting.