Rapper Huey Reportedly Killed in Shooting

Rapper Huey, best known for his song "Pop, Lock & Drop It," was reportedly shot and killed Thursday in St. Louis County, Missouri at the age of 31. Huey, whose real name is Lawrence Franks Jr., was one of two victims of a shooting in the city of Kinloch, the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reports, although police have yet to officially release his identity.

The St. Louis native died soon after arriving at a hospital Thursday night, having been shot at least once in the front yard of a home in the 8100 block of Martin Luther King. A second victim of the shooting went to the Ferguson Police Department after being shot and was taken to the hospital with non-life threatening injuries, police said.

St. Louis County police are investigating the incident but released no details Friday about a possible motive or potential suspects. Sergeant Benjamin Granda said in a statement to Newsweek as to why Franks' identity had yet to be confirmed, "The identity of a victim of a homicide will not be provided until that identity is positively confirmed and their next of kin notified."

Plenty of other people did confirm it was Franks who was killed, however, including Jevon M. Tompkins of IDOL Music Group and Blanco Tarantino TV, who tweeted, "STL native Huey, best known for his classic single 'Pop Lock & Drop It,' was shot and killed earlier tonight and was expected to shoot a video this Saturday. This just hit home fr." St. Louis-based producer and songwriter Jaylien Wesley also confirmed the news, sharing a video of Franks dancing with a smile on his face.

shed a few , my dawg Huey is gone forever. thank you for the talk, thank you for your energy, thank you for believing in me. Ima help keep your spirit alive down here. much much love forever. pic.twitter.com/18S62VBvbW

— J∆YLIEN (@jaylienwesley) June 26, 2020

The rapper was said to be filming a new music video this weekend after signing a deal with Waka Flocka Flame in 2013. The Post-Dispatch reported Franks attended Berkeley High School and McCluer High School before earning his GED. He was father to a teenage daughter, Lawryn. In a 2007 profile with the paper, he recalled a difficult childhood as the youngest of four kids growing up in the St. Louis area. "It was really rough. My mama and daddy were on drugs. My brother was in and out of jail. The foster people were chasing me. It was crazy," he said.