Atlanta-based rapper Young Scooter, best known for songs “Jugg King” and Hard to Handle,” has reportedly died. He was 39.
News broke on Friday, March 28, that Scooter (born Kenneth Edward Bailey) had died after being transported to a local hospital in Atlanta, Variety and the Atlanta-Journal Constitution reported, citing a spokesperson for the Fulton County Medical Examiner’s Office.
According to the medical examiner, an autopsy is expected to be completed on Saturday, March 29, to discover Scooter’s cause of death.
Scooter, who died on what would have been his 39th birthday, was taken to the hospital after an apparent leg injury. According to the AJC, he allegedly got hurt after jumping two fences while running from local police officers.
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Members of the Atlanta Police Department revealed in a Friday press conference, without identifying Scooter, that there had been a 911 call over “a dispute with shots fired and a female being dragged back into the residence.”
Per APD officials, two of the men who had been in the house at the time of the call tried to flee the premises. While one individual returned, the other jumped over two fences.
“When officers located him on the other side of the fence, he appeared to have suffered an injury to his leg,” the police spokesperson told reporters. “Officers rendered aid and he was transported to Grady Hospital, where he was pronounced deceased.”
Further details about Scooter’s death have not yet been shared.
Scooter was a rapper signed to childhood friend Future and fellow rap star Waka Flocka Flame’s record label. Waka Flocka Flame (born Juaquin James Malphurs) was among the first stars to pay tribute after Scooter’s death.
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“Street, you had [me] crying before my show,” Waka Flocka Flame, 38, wrote via his Instagram Stories later on Friday. “You the f***ing backbone. Damn brada.”
Playboi Carti also shared his condolences, captioning an Instagram tribute, “I grew up on dis s*** SMH RIP.”
Scooter started pursuing music in 2008, releasing his last project in March 2024.
“It’s just called count music,” he told Complex in a 2013 interview about his overall songwriting process. “I don’t really care what I say on a beat as long as it’s about some money. When you try to think hard and write it out, that’s when it’s gonna be f***ed up.”
At the time, Scooter revealed that he was “always in the studio” working on his tracks.
