{"id":1780305,"date":"2026-02-18T23:03:59","date_gmt":"2026-02-18T20:03:59","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/?p=1780305"},"modified":"2026-02-18T23:03:59","modified_gmt":"2026-02-18T20:03:59","slug":"jacksonville-rapper-lil-poppa-dies-at-25","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/?p=1780305","title":{"rendered":"Jacksonville Rapper Lil Poppa Dies at 25"},"content":{"rendered":"

[analyse_image type=”featured” src=”https:\/\/media.pitchfork.com\/photos\/69964c3daef6e1d89ca6117c\/16:9\/w_1280,c_limit\/GettyImages-2184697403.jpg”]<\/p>\n

\n
\n
\n
\n
\n
\n
\n
\n
\n
News<\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

Jacksonville Rapper Lil Poppa Dies at 25<\/h1>\n
<\/div>\n
\n
He released his latest song, \u201cOut of Town Bae,\u201d just last Friday<\/div>\n
\n
\n
By <\/span>Kiana Mickles<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/div>\n

\n
\n
<\/p>\n
\n
<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

<\/span><\/p>\n

Lil Poppa in 2024 (Photo by Aaron J. Thornton\/Getty Images)<\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/header>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
\n
\n
\n
\n
\n
\n
\n

Jacksonville rapper Lil Poppa has died. An official cause of death has not been announced. He was 25.<\/p>\n

Born in 2000, Janarious Mykel Wheeler began rapping at\u00a07 years old. He got his start writing religious raps for his local church before pivoting to secular music. Wheeler was just 18 when he broke through in 2018 with \u201cPurple Hearts,\u201d a song about surviving a shooting in his hometown, he was only 18. The track was later featured on his beloved debut mixtape, Under Investigation<\/em>.<\/p>\n

The success of \u201cPurple Hearts\u201d led to Poppa\u2019s signing with Interscope Records. His 2021 debut on the label, Blessed, I Guess<\/em>, dealt with his conflicted feelings around his sudden fame. The rapper would later sign to Yo Gotti\u2019s Collective Music Group, also home to Moneybagg Yo and GloRilla. Poppa\u2019s last album, the 16-track Almost Normal Again,<\/em> came out in August 2025. His latest song, \u201cOut of Town Bae,\u201d dropped just last Friday.<\/p>\n

The hip-hop community has come together to remember Lil Poppa, with Meek Mill, Boosie Badazz, Rob49, Dej Loaf, Mozzy, Nardo Wick, Pluto, and Lil Duval all sharing tributes. \u201c[All] them talks same dream same problems I understand\u2026.bro you ah LEGEND I hope you understood that,\u201d fellow Florida rapper Yungeen Ace wrote on Instagram. \u201cThe city love you @lilpoppa glad we gotta chance to patch things up and be close.\u201d<\/p>\n

Revisit the Pitchfork feature Lil Poppa, Legend Yae, and Why the Best Southern Pain Rap Is More Than Just Sad.<\/p>\n

\n
\n
<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/article>\n

[analyse_source url=”http:\/\/pitchfork.com\/news\/lil-poppa-dead-at-25\/”]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

[analyse_image type=”featured” src=”https:\/\/media.pitchfork.com\/photos\/69964c3daef6e1d89ca6117c\/16:9\/w_1280,c_limit\/GettyImages-2184697403.jpg”] News Jacksonville Rapper Lil Poppa Dies at 25 He released his latest song, \u201cOut of Town Bae,\u201d just last Friday By Kiana Mickles February 19, 2026 Lil Poppa in 2024 (Photo by Aaron J. Thornton\/Getty Images) Jacksonville rapper Lil Poppa has died. An official cause of death has not been announced. He […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[226,54],"class_list":["post-1780305","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-politics","tag-crawlmanager","tag-pitchfork-com"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1780305","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1780305"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1780305\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1780305"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1780305"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1780305"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}