Jeff Weiss on the life and death of Drakeo the Ruler

Bullseye with Jesse Thorn

NPR

Society & Culture

4.7 • 2.7K Ratings

🗓️ 18 March 2022

⏱️ 46 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

On December 18, 2021, the rapper Drakeo the Ruler was murdered backstage at a festival in Los Angeles, his hometown. A group of 40 or so people ambushed him; one of them stabbed him to death. Drakeo was a young, rising rapper. Critics respected him and rap fans streamed his music millions of times. He was an LA gangsta rapper whose music didn't sound like what you'd think when you hear "LA gangsta rap" – it's subdued and anxious, less about the barbecue with your pals and more about looking over your shoulder. Jeff Weiss, the music writer, first covered Drakeo the Ruler in 2017, and they forged a friendship. Weiss also witnessed Drakeo's murder. We invited Weiss to our studio in Los Angeles to talk about Drakeo's music, what it meant to the broader hip-hop community, and his life and death. As a warning: there's going to be some discussion about violence, along with crime. If you or someone you're listening with is sensitive to that, we wanted to give you a heads up.

See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for sponsorship and to manage your podcast sponsorship preferences.

NPR Privacy Policy

Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0	Bullseye with Jesse Thorn is a production of MaximumFun.org and is distributed by NPR.
0:13.8	It's Bullseye, I'm Jesse Thorn.
0:16.8	On December 18th of last year, the rapper Draco the Ruler was murdered.
0:23.2	It happened backstage at a festival in Los Angeles, his hometown.
0:27.6	A group of dozens of people, maybe as many as 75 or 100, ambush Draco.
0:34.3	One of those people slid his throat.
0:37.8	Draco was a young rising rapper.
0:41.0	Critics respected him.
0:42.5	Rap fans streamed his music millions of times.
0:46.5	He was a Los Angeles gangster rapper whose music didn't sound like what you'd think of
0:51.1	when you hear Los Angeles gangster rap.
0:54.1	It's subdued and anxious, less about the barbecue with your pals, more about looking over your shoulder,
1:01.2	double checking on the footsteps behind you.
1:04.5	Music writer Jeff Weiss first covered Draco the Ruler about five years ago.
1:09.8	He met him at the LA Men's Central Jail, downtown, where Draco was being held on a gun charge.
1:16.9	Weiss and Draco forged a close relationship over the years.
1:20.8	Under Weiss' byline Draco appeared in LA Weekly, the LA Times, the Ringer and more.
1:28.8	Weiss was also with Draco when the rapper was murdered.
1:33.3	Draco is exactly the kind of guest I'd love to have on my show.
1:37.1	A funny, fascinating MC with a compelling story and a healthy appreciation for the work of one
1:44.0	of my favorite rappers, Sugar Free.
1:45.7	In fact, we tried to book and we hadn't ever made it happen and it won't happen now.
	...

Please login to see the full transcript.

Previous episode | Next episode

Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from NPR, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.

Generated transcripts are the property of NPR and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.