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![Young Dolph Essentials](/https/music.apple.com/assets/artwork/1x1.gif)
The Chicago-born, Memphis-bred rapper Young Dolph began his come-up around the turn of the 2010s, dropping a series of acclaimed mixtapes before an alliance with superstar Atlanta MC and renowned talent mentor Gucci Mane led to their East Atlanta Memphis tape. If Dolph took anything from Gucci's process, it was to drop music early and often; Dolph released multiple projects in the span of a year over the large majority of his career. Flexing, and the success one could find in Memphis street life, was Dolph's forte, the MC rapping in an unhurried monotone, like a bored general who knows just how far he outranks you. With their minor-key piano lines ("Foreva"), horror movie synths ("Facts") and bone-rattling snares ("A-Plus"), Dolph's tracks were perfect for both the strip club and the trap house, two places where Dolph claimed he was equally likely to be found. After surviving—and documenting—previous attempts on his life, Young Dolph was gunned down in his native Memphis in November of 2021 at age 36.