# Young Dolph
**Young Dolph**, born Adolph Robert Thornton Jr. (1985 – November 17, 2021), was an American rapper and record executive from [Memphis, Tennessee](https://www.edgepedia.org/memphis-tennessee), known for his debut studio album *King of Memphis* (2016) and for the independent label Paper Route Empire, which he used to build a career entirely outside the major-label system[1](https://www.discognizer.com/artist/young-dolph) • [2](https://www.allmusic.com/artist/paper-route-empire-mn0004181593). He was shot and killed in Memphis on November 17, 2021[1](https://www.discognizer.com/artist/young-dolph).
| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Born / died | Born 1985 in Chicago, Illinois; based in Memphis, Tennessee; murdered in Memphis on November 17, 2021[1](https://www.discognizer.com/artist/young-dolph) |
| Label | Founded Paper Route Empire, an independently owned label through which he released his catalog[2](https://www.allmusic.com/artist/paper-route-empire-mn0004181593) |
| Breakthrough | Debuted in 2008 with the *Paper Route Campaign* mixtape; broke nationwide around 2014[3](https://www.youngdolph.com/company) |
| Debut album | *King of Memphis*, February 2016; No. 8 on Billboard's Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums, No. 49 on the Billboard 200, 11 tracks with no features[3](https://www.youngdolph.com/company) |
| Chart peak | Three albums reached the top 10 of the Billboard 200; *Rich Slave* (2020) peaked at No. 4[4](https://apnews.com/article/215ebc0b385a7a02a30eafe028b534c4) |
| Key collaborator | Key Glock, his cousin, on the *Dum and Dummer* albums of 2019 and 2021[5](https://www.yahoo.com/entertainment/rapper-king-memphis-look-young-100228392.html) |
| Death and trials | Justin Johnson convicted of first-degree murder in 2024; Cornelius Smith Jr. pleaded guilty and received 20 years; Hernandez Govan acquitted[4](https://apnews.com/article/215ebc0b385a7a02a30eafe028b534c4) |
## Early career and mixtapes
Dolph emerged from Memphis with what his own website calls "grim club bangers and cold punch lines," becoming a local hero through mixtapes before breaking nationally around 2014[3](https://www.youngdolph.com/company). He debuted in 2008 with the *Paper Route Campaign* mixtape, and releases such as *The Weed Album* and *South Memphis Kingpin* carried him to 2012, when he began the *High Class Street Music* series that became a recurring brand in his catalog[3](https://www.youngdolph.com/company). His thick Tennessee drawl distinguished him among Memphis rappers and supported collaborations with 2 Chainz, Juicy J, Young Jeezy, and [Rick Ross](https://www.edgepedia.org/rick-ross)[3](https://www.youngdolph.com/company). Reviewers later counted *Rich Crack Baby*, which entered the Billboard 200 and featured [Boosie Badazz](https://www.edgepedia.org/boosie-badazz), 2 Chainz, Wale, T.I., Gucci Mane, and 21 Savage, among the notable releases of this run[6](https://www.allmusic.com/artist/young-dolph-mn0003085896).
## Paper Route Empire and independence
**Independence** was the core of the Dolph story. He remained fiercely independent throughout his rise, releasing his catalog through Paper Route Empire, the label he founded[2](https://www.allmusic.com/artist/paper-route-empire-mn0004181593). While the label initially served as a home for his own barrage of mixtapes, it took on a larger purpose during the 2010s by providing a route to national success for local Memphis talent[2](https://www.allmusic.com/artist/paper-route-empire-mn0004181593). Apple Music's profile describes him, without a major viral moment or major-label contract, as one of the more impressive self-made success stories in modern trap music, and notes that he mentored numerous rising rappers while releasing mixtapes, albums, EPs, and collaborative projects every year[7](https://music.apple.com/us/album/role-model/1434350926).
According to testimony in the murder trial of Justin Johnson, prosecutors told jurors that Cocaine Muzik Group, the rival label founded by [Yo Gotti](https://www.edgepedia.org/yo-gotti) and now known as Collective Music Group, wanted Young Dolph to work for them, but he turned them down[4](https://apnews.com/article/215ebc0b385a7a02a30eafe028b534c4). His refusal became part of a broader rivalry between the two Memphis camps that shaped the city's rap scene[8](https://raptology.com/2026/06/02/young-dolph-vs-yo-gotti-memphis-rap-war/).
## Studio albums
**King of Memphis.** In February 2016 Dolph released his debut studio album, which debuted at No. 8 on Billboard's Top R&B/Hip-Hop Album chart and No. 49 on the Billboard 200. The 11-track project has no guest features and carries production from Mike WiLL Made It, Zaytoven, Drumma Boy, TM88, Cassius Jay, Nard and B, and others[3](https://www.youngdolph.com/company). A Pitchfork review later argued for *King of Memphis* as the best piece of his catalog[9](https://pitchfork.com/reviews/albums/young-dolph-thinking-out-loud/).
**Bulletproof and Thinking Out Loud.** *Bulletproof* (2017) was framed by violence: its genesis was an attempt on his life, yet songs such as "I'm Everything You Wanna Be" riffed on everything from selling drugs to dancing like Puffy in [Times Square](https://www.edgepedia.org/times-square), a balance of levity and darkness critics saw as characteristic[10](https://pitchfork.com/reviews/albums/various-artists-young-dolph-presents-paper-route-illuminati/). The Fader wrote that the album has "defiance that rap legends are made of"[11](https://www.thefader.com/2021/11/18/young-dolph-obituary). *Thinking Out Loud* followed within months; Pitchfork noted that after two attempts on his life in seven months, Dolph had "simply gotten back to work"[9](https://pitchfork.com/reviews/albums/young-dolph-thinking-out-loud/).
**Role Model and Rich Slave.** *Role Model* (2018), his fourth album, reflected on his slow and steady rise without a sellout moment, set against the shadow of the 2017 Los Angeles shooting that left him in critical condition[7](https://music.apple.com/us/album/role-model/1434350926). *Rich Slave*, released in August 2020 through Paper Route Empire, peaked at No. 4 on the Billboard 200[4](https://apnews.com/article/215ebc0b385a7a02a30eafe028b534c4).
**Collaborations with Key Glock.** Dolph teamed with his cousin [Key Glock](https://www.edgepedia.org/key-glock) for the *Dum and Dummer* albums of 2019 and 2021[5](https://www.yahoo.com/entertainment/rapper-king-memphis-look-young-100228392.html). He also collaborated on mixtapes and albums with [Megan Thee Stallion](https://www.edgepedia.org/megan-thee-stallion), T.I., Gucci Mane, and 2 Chainz, among others[4](https://apnews.com/article/215ebc0b385a7a02a30eafe028b534c4).
## The 2017 shootings
Two attempts on Dolph's life came within seven months in 2017. In one incident, after a scuffle outside a Hollywood hotel, he was shot multiple times in the torso and taken to the hospital initially in critical condition; he survived and recovered[9](https://pitchfork.com/reviews/albums/young-dolph-thinking-out-loud/). Both shootings were later connected to fellow rappers: a friend of his sworn enemy Yo Gotti was charged with attempted murder in the Hollywood shooting, and Memphis rapper [Blac Youngsta](https://www.edgepedia.org/blac-youngsta) turned himself in over the Charlotte incident[9](https://pitchfork.com/reviews/albums/young-dolph-thinking-out-loud/).
## Killing and trials
Young Dolph was gunned down in a daylight ambush on November 17, 2021, at Makeda's Homemade Butter Cookies on Airways Boulevard, a bakery near his childhood home in a working-class Memphis neighborhood, at age 36[5](https://www.yahoo.com/entertainment/rapper-king-memphis-look-young-100228392.html) • [12](https://apnews.com/article/14e3cf33a24f1106401a2ef835f0008f). In 2024, Justin Johnson was convicted of first-degree murder. Cornelius Smith Jr., the second alleged shooter, testified that Anthony "Big Jook" Mims, the brother of rapper Yo Gotti, had put out a $100,000 hit on Young Dolph as well as smaller bounties on all the artists at Paper Route Empire; prosecutors framed the killing as revenge for diss tracks aimed at Big Jook and the label he helped run for his brother[4](https://apnews.com/article/215ebc0b385a7a02a30eafe028b534c4). Smith later pleaded guilty to second-degree murder under an agreement dropping other charges and was sentenced to 20 years in prison[4](https://apnews.com/article/215ebc0b385a7a02a30eafe028b534c4). Hernandez Govan, whom Smith identified as a go-between with Big Jook, was acquitted when the jury was not convinced he organized the killings[4](https://apnews.com/article/215ebc0b385a7a02a30eafe028b534c4). Big Jook himself was shot and killed outside a restaurant in January 2024, and no arrests have been made in his death[4](https://apnews.com/article/215ebc0b385a7a02a30eafe028b534c4).
## Legacy
Memphis honored Dolph in several ways after his death: the city named a street after him, the [Memphis Grizzlies](https://www.edgepedia.org/memphis-grizzlies) honored him at a game, and murals of the rapper were painted around the city[4](https://apnews.com/article/215ebc0b385a7a02a30eafe028b534c4). His charitable work included the IdaMae Family Foundation, named after his grandmother[12](https://apnews.com/article/14e3cf33a24f1106401a2ef835f0008f). The AP described his music as discussing Memphis street life and his crack-addicted parents alongside hard-earned lessons of strength and perseverance, and said his legacy as a fiercely independent artist and businessman was cemented in the hip-hop universe[4](https://apnews.com/article/215ebc0b385a7a02a30eafe028b534c4). His signees and associates released the eight-track tribute tape *Long Live Young Dolph* in January 2022 and performed his music at his public memorial and Rolling Loud California[13](https://www.thefader.com/2022/07/27/young-dolph-new-track-hall-of-fame). A posthumous album, *Paper Route Frank*, was released in 2022[14](https://music.apple.com/us/album/paper-route-frank/1659153144). Paper Route Empire continues to release music from artists including Key Glock, Kenny Muney, and Big Moochie Grape[15](https://www.paperrouteempire.com/).
## References
1. [Young Dolph discography and artist profile, Discognizer](https://www.discognizer.com/artist/young-dolph)
2. [Paper Route Empire biography, AllMusic](https://www.allmusic.com/artist/paper-route-empire-mn0004181593)
3. [PAPER ROUTE EMPIRE, Young Dolph official site](https://www.youngdolph.com/company)
4. [Man pleads guilty in shooting death of rapper Young Dolph at a Memphis bakery, AP News](https://apnews.com/article/215ebc0b385a7a02a30eafe028b534c4)
5. [Who is the rapper 'King of Memphis'? A look at Young Dolph's career and legacy, Yahoo Entertainment](https://www.yahoo.com/entertainment/rapper-king-memphis-look-young-100228392.html)
6. [Young Dolph biography, AllMusic](https://www.allmusic.com/artist/young-dolph-mn0003085896)
7. [Role Model, Apple Music album notes](https://music.apple.com/us/album/role-model/1434350926)
8. [The Memphis Rap Wars, Part 1: How Young Dolph And Yo Gotti's Feud Changed Memphis Hip-Hop Forever, Raptology](https://raptology.com/2026/06/02/young-dolph-vs-yo-gotti-memphis-rap-war/)
9. [Young Dolph: Thinking Out Loud Album Review, Pitchfork](https://pitchfork.com/reviews/albums/young-dolph-thinking-out-loud/)
10. [Various Artists: Young Dolph Presents Paper Route Illuminati Album Review, Pitchfork](https://pitchfork.com/reviews/albums/various-artists-young-dolph-presents-paper-route-illuminati/)
11. [Young Dolph was Memphis rap's defiant heart, The FADER](https://www.thefader.com/2021/11/18/young-dolph-obituary)
12. [Trial in daytime ambush of rapper Young Dolph 3 years ago to begin in Memphis, AP News](https://apnews.com/article/14e3cf33a24f1106401a2ef835f0008f)
13. [Listen to the new, posthumous Young Dolph track "Hall of Fame", The FADER](https://www.thefader.com/2022/07/27/young-dolph-new-track-hall-of-fame)
14. [Paper Route Frank, Apple Music](https://music.apple.com/us/album/paper-route-frank/1659153144)
15. [Paper Route Empire official site](https://www.paperrouteempire.com/)
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*Topic: Encyclopedia › Arts and culture › Music › Music scenes › Transnational genre scenes › Hip hop scenes worldwide › Artists, groups, and people: Hip hop scenes worldwide › Southern US rap (Atlanta, Memphis, Houston, New Orleans, Florida) › Memphis and Tennessee rap*
*Initially written Sep 17, 2026 · Reviewed: Sep 30, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Edited: Sep 30, 2026; Oct 12, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Last review: Oct 25, 2026*
*Copyright 2026 EdgeChat AI, a subsidiary of Biostate AI.*
License: Edgepedia Community License 1.0, https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license