Philly rapper LGP Qua killed in weekend robbery attempt, police say
Qidere Johnson, also known as LGP Qua, was shot and killed in North Philadelphia on Sunday in what police believe was a robbery.
LGP Qua, a popular rapper known for speaking on the challenges and realities of surviving as a young Black man in Philadelphia, was shot and killed over the weekend in what police believe was a robbery.
Qidere Johnson, 30, and a friend were near M and Luzerne Streets around 4:30 p.m. Sunday when they were ambushed by two men in masks, armed with guns, police said. The men tried to rob Johnson and his friend, and attempted to steal Johnson’s gold chains from around his neck, when one of the men shot Johnson once in the chest, police said.
The gunmen fled, and it’s not clear whether they successfully stole anything. No arrests have been made, police said.
The friend rushed Johnson to Temple University Hospital, where he died shortly after, police said.
Johnson had built a substantial following as an independent rapper in Philly, releasing songs with well-known artists like French Montana and will.i.am. He called himself the “voice of the youth,” and his Instagram featured freestyles about the struggle — and strength — of children and families in some of the city’s poorest, most under-resourced neighborhoods.
“I really been through pain but it won’t break me, I’m a fighter,” he sang in one song. “Ever lose a friend then grow up ‘round his kid who look just like him? Ever stole inside a store, a winter coat, cus it be bitin’, ever walked 20 blocks for $10 and some diapers?”
A knock on the door of his family’s home went unanswered Monday.
Ameer Barber, a community activist known as MotivateYouth215 on Instagram, said he saw Johnson as a little brother, a “younger version of me.” The two had spoken of how to effectively engage with the city’s young people and help older generations better understand what they’re going through.
While many young men in Philly started to build music careers from drill rap, writing songs about killing people and mocking their deaths, Barber said Johnson stayed true to himself and spoke truth to power.
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“When everyone wanted to talk about killing everybody, he wanted to talk about the effects,” he said. “What the youth is going through in Philadelphia, he was painting that picture — the pain they felt, of not having a father around, the drugs out here in the street, the school system. …
“He exemplified what a lot of the kids in Philly really feel and he displayed it through music,” he said.
Johnson is one of many Philadelphia rappers who have been shot and killed in recent years. Rakim Hasheem Allen, a.k.a. PNB Rock, from the East Germantown section of Philadelphia, was shot and killed in 2022 in Los Angeles during a robbery. He, too, was only 30.
Derrick Gant, a.k.a Phat Geez, was shot and killed outside of his home in North Philly last year. And Devin Spady, better known as Gillie da King’s son YNG Cheese, was killed during a drive-by shooting in Olney in 2023.
Both killings remain unsolved.