Rapper Black The Ripper dead at 32: Tributes pour in as it’s revealed the marijuana advocate has passed away… days after he was pictured relaxed and happy in the Caribbean
Rapper and prominent marijuana advocate Black The Ripper has died, it has been revealed. He was 32.
The musician, real name Dean West, initially rose to fame with his hugely popular mixtapes Afro Samurai and Holla Back, which were released in the early noughties.
While he continued to make music in the years that followed, he eventually became a voice in the push to legalise marijuana in the UK.
RIP: Rapper and marijuana advocate Black The Ripper has died, it has been revealed. He was 32. The star (front) is pictured on the Caribbean island of Montserrat last week
While it’s known yet known how the star, also known as Ital Samson, died, a host of musicians took to Twitter to share their condolences as the news broke on Monday.
Fellow MC Chip, shared a snap of himself posing with the Edmonton, north London, MC in happier times, as he wrote: ‘RIP my brother,’ preceded by a heartbreak emoji.
South London grime MC Novelist stated: ‘I can’t believe the news I’ve just got. I had good times with you cuz. Everyone’s gonna miss you. Rest in peace Black the ripper.’
Advocate: After launching his music career in the early noughties, the star went on to become a prominent voice in calling for the legalisation of marijuana
Krept, of the duo Krept and Konan reacted to the news of West’s untimely death by writing: ‘No way black the ripper. R.I.P man f***inghell what a horrible year.’ [sic]
In what may have been his last publicly known picture, West was snapped posing with friends on the Caribbean island of Montserrat, where he has family ties.
In the shot, the star was seen posing front and centre as he leaned against a silver Mercedes as he donned a green T-shirt and blue Adidas shorts.
Captioning the image, the poster wrote: ‘2020 we isolated from the Bs. Stay woke @blacktheripper #corona #selflove #1link.’ [sic]
Tributes: While it’s known yet known how the star, also known as Ital Samson, died, a host of musicians took to Twitter to share their condolences as the news broke on Monday
By Monday evening, a solitary picture of West was posted on the same account, alongside the words: ‘#hope ur at peace my brother This one too mad… RIP @blacktheripper.’
West made headlines in 2016, when he joined web comedy troop Trollstation to smoke inside a pod on the London Eye as surprised tourists looked on.
The group boarded the Eye at 4.20pm April 20 of that year – in celebration of 4/20 – to create a music video where they filmed one another smoking and dancing inside the capsule.
That same year, he also shared video footage of himself walking around as Asda supermarket as he openly smoked cannabis.
After he shared the footage on his Dank of England Instagram account – from which a range of cannabis-related merchandise is sold – he attracted the attention of Asda.
An Asda spokesperson said in a statement at the time: ‘Asda is a family-friendly retailer and we expect all our customers to abide by the law and recognise the strict no-smoking policy we have in place across our stores.’
