The Outlawz Twitter account announced the news that rapper Hussein Fatal was killed in a car crash, but the Outlawz waved a flag of defiance in the face of death. “Outlawz live forever!!! #RipHusseinFatal #RipKadafi #RipMakaveli” reads the tweet. It’s both true and not true, obviously. Like the late Tupac Shakur, who the young Hussein Fatal performed with in the 1990s, Fatal will leave his mark despite departing at the early age of 38. But while “living forever” in hearts, minds and music, Fatal won’t make any more music.
Not long after Shakur was killed in 1996, the Outlawz lost rapper Yaki Kadafi, too. The Outlawz lifestyle was not posing, and it was dangerous. The most prominent member of the Outlawz remaining is Young Noble, a fellow Montclair rapper who followed Fatal into the limelight. An outpour of mourning came from the hip hop community, like this from Ja Rule.
Rip Fatal!!! Cherish the ones u love while there’re here u never know what day will be your last… https://t.co/krIWtG81v5
— Ja Rule (@Ruleyork) July 12, 2015
