Bay Area rapper Lil Yase gunned down near BART station over the weekend
A 26-year-old Bay Area rapper was shot and killed over the weekend, and police are searching for suspects in the slaying, authorities said.
Police were called to the Valley Care Medical Center in the San Francisco suburb of Pleasanton about 1 a.m. Saturday after a man suffering from multiple gunshot wounds arrived at the hospital. The victim — later identified as Alexander Antonyyo Jr., known as Lil Yase — was then transported to Eden Medical Center in Castro Valley, where he died, authorities said.
Officers determined Antonyyo had been shot multiple times near the east Dublin BART station in the East Bay area of Alameda County, Dublin police said in a news release.
Antonyyo began attracting attention around the Bay Area in 2016 when he dropped a remix of “Get It In,†garnering more than 3 million views on YouTube. His song “Mad,†featuring Los Angeles-based group Shoreline Mafia, gained more than 2 million listeners on Spotify.
The artist navigated the competitive music industry deftly, said his friend Shawn Farrell, a rapper and director known as Shawn Eff. When he wasn’t spending time in the studio or performing, Antonyyo was networking with other rappers, musicians and production workers, Farrell said.
He recalled a time shooting a video of Antonyyo in an alley after a show. Ten other rappers showed up to cheer him on, then another wave came. Soon, a crowd of 30 had gathered, catching Antonyyo’s “contagious†laugh, Farrell said.
“If you ever met him in person, you’d automatically be attracted to him,†Farrell said, adding that the artist’s laugh was “unmatched.â€
According to his independent record label, Highway 420 Productions, new music from Lil Yase was on its way.
The day before his death, the rapper had posted to Instagram, wishing fans a happy Thanksgiving.
His social media accounts were flooded with tributes over the weekend.
“You were the first rapper to show me love,†one person commented.
“[He] really put the city/bay back on the map a few years ago,†another said.
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