On his birthday, the 39-year-old Atlanta rapper Young Scooter, who was signed to Future and Waka Flocka Flame, passed away.
The rapper was taken to the Grady Marcus Trauma Center in Atlanta on Friday by emergency medical services, according to the Fulton County Medical Examiner’s Office, which confirmed his death to Variety. Since an autopsy has not been performed, his cause of death is still unknown.
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution claims that Scooter passed away while evading police. After jumping two fences and injuring his leg, he passed away in the hospital.
Throughout his career, Scooter, whose real name was Kenneth Edward Bailey, established himself as a major figure in Atlanta rap. He was among the first musicians signed to Future’s Freebandz label and then to Waka Flocka Flame’s Brick Squad Monopoly under Gucci Mane’s 1017 Records. His consistent mixtape output, which included releases with Gucci Mane and Zaytoven, helped him build a fan base. In 2018, he had his first appearance on the Billboard Hot 100 with a feature on Future and Juice Wrld’s “Jet Lag.”
Scooter was born in Walterboro, South Carolina, and moved to Atlanta’s Kirkwood Community at the age of nine. He decided to pursue a music career in 2008 after a drug trafficking charge, connecting with his childhood friend Future across several collaborations. Though not a chart titan, Scooter was a consistent presence in Atlanta hip-hop during its commercial boom in the 2010s, appearing on singles from Future and Young Thug and working with artists like Juicy J, Kodak Black and Rick Ross.
Scooter explained his off-kilter flow, which he referred to as “count music,” in a 2013 interview with Complex. He declared, “As long as it involves money, I don’t really care what I say on a beat.” “It’s going to be messed up when you try to think it out and write it down.”
Scooter continued to be busy over the years, most recently releasing “Trap’s Last Hope,” his fourteenth project, in March 2024. Future, EST Gee, and Peewee Longway were among the guests on the independently distributed record.