16-Year-Old Rapper 23 Rackz Fatally Shot in D.C.
A rising rapper out of Southeast Washington, D.C. was fatally gunned down last week at the tender age of 16. Now the family of 23 Racks is speaking out about gun violence and the perils of street life.
“Nobody could get him to stay off the streets,” Michael Johnson told FOX 5 about the late 16-year-old. “I’d go to work, and he’d be gone when I come home. So we had a relationship of me trying to get him off the streets and him thinking, once he got money off his hands, he was gone. And as far as guns on the street, he had been arrested one time for a gun, but D.C. won’t hold those kids. I begged the judges, P.O., keep him. Just keep him. But the next day, he was home. It’s so easy for these kids to get guns, it really is.”
Born Justin Johnson, 23 Racks’ death garnered condolences from fellow D.C. rapper, Wale, who wrote on Twitter. “I don’t even know what to say . I’m so sorry little brother.”
He added, “Heart just feel exhausted ..I don’t even know no more man . This sh*t hurt so bad. It’s throwin me off . That boy was so young . So much in front of him . I remember just hangin all day when he came to LA. He ended up bein the last voice u hear on this last album . I can’t believe this.”
According to Complex, no arrests have been made in the case and authorities are offering a $25,000 reward to anyone who provides information that leads to a conviction.
Johnson’s sister, Jamesa Hall told Fox 5, “It’s hard to see on social media that you know, he’s really gone and I see a lot of comments on social media saying like, ‘Oh well he was in the streets at 16 and he didn’t go to school, and this and that.’ He was an honor roll student. They skipped him a grade. Like he was street smart and book smart. He was well before his time.”
She added, "A lot of people have different perceptions of him, but at the end of the day, with us at home, he was just a regular 16-year-old. "It was never 23 Rackz in the house."
A candlelight vigil for the slain rapper is planned for this Friday at 6:30 p.m. by the scene of the shooting at Savannah Terrace and 23th St. in Southeast.