Young Dolph

American rapper, Adolph Robert Thornton Jr., known professionally as Young Dolph, was born in Chicago, Illinois on July 27, 1985. At age 2, he moved with his family to Memphis, Tennessee where he was raised mostly by his grandmother. Young Dolph started experimenting with rap in the early 2000s and released his first mixtape in 2008. The mixtape's success in the Memphis area inspired him to dedicate himself to rap full time. He founded his independent label, Paper Route Empire, and successfully built a brand around it. His breakthrough came with the 2014 release of "Preach" and "Get Paid," which garnered national attention. His debut album "King of Memphis" (2016) was commercially successful but the title angered other Memphis rappers. This led to a series of diss songs back and forth between Young Dolph and rival rapper Yo Gotti. Young Dolph's album "Thinking Out Loud" (2017) reached No. 16 on the Billboard 200 chart but he made it into the top ten when he collaborated with Key Glock on the album "Dum and Dummer" (2019). He followed this up with his most successful solo album "Rich Slave" (2020). Tragically, Young Dolph's life was cut short when he was fatally shot on November 17, 2021, in his hometown of Memphis, Tennessee.