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Roderick Anthony Burton II (November 25, 1987 – May 18, 2009) better known by his stage name Dolla, was an American rapper from
Atlanta Atlanta ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Georgia (U.S. state), most populous city in the U.S. state of Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia. It is the county seat, seat of Fulton County, Georg ...
,
Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the South Caucasus * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the southeastern United States Georgia may also refer to: People and fictional characters * Georgia (name), a list of pe ...
. Burton embarked on his music career in 2003, with hip hop group Da Razkalz Cru, under the pseudonym Bucklyte. The group quickly disbanded, and Burton went on to work as a model for the
Sean John Sean John is a privately held fashion lifestyle company created by music mogul Sean "Diddy" Combs, Sean John "Diddy" Combs. The line made its fashion debut with a men's sportswear collection for the spring 1998 season. In 2016, the brand had ann ...
clothing line. In 2007, Burton signed to
Akon Aliaune Damala Bouga Time Puru Nacka Lu Lu Lu Badara Akon Thiam (born April 16, 1973), known mononymously as Akon (), is a Senegalese-United States, American singer, songwriter, rapper, record producer, businessman, and philanthropist. An influ ...
's
Konvict Muzik Konvict Kulture is a record label founded by R&B singer Akon, Melvin Brown (music manager), Melvin Brown and Bu Thiam in 2003 under the name Konvict Muzik. Artists including T-Pain, Kat DeLuna, Mali Music (singer), Mali Music, Red Café, Dolla ...
label. Burton released three singles from 2007 to 2009. The first, his commercial debut single " Who the Fuck Is That?", featuring
T-Pain Faheem Rashad Najm (born September 30, 1984), known professionally as T-Pain, is an American singer and rapper. He is known for popularizing creative use of Auto-Tune pitch correction, often used with extreme parameter settings to create electro ...
and
Tay Dizm Artavious Courtez Smith (born May 3, 1980), known professionally as Tay Dizm, is an American rapper and hype man best known for being signed to T-Pain's Nappy Boy Entertainment record label. Biography Smith spent his entire childhood raised in f ...
, charted on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100. On May 18, 2009, Burton was shot and killed at the valet stand of the
Beverly Center The Beverly Center is a shopping mall in Los Angeles, California, United States. It is an eight-story structure located near the West Hollywood, California, West Hollywood border but within Los Angeles city limits, bounded by Beverly Boulevard, ...
shopping mall in
Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...
, and Aubrey Berry was arrested for attempted murder. Berry was acquitted on all charges.


Biography

Burton was born in
Chicago Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...
on November 25, 1987, and grew up in
Atlanta Atlanta ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Georgia (U.S. state), most populous city in the U.S. state of Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia. It is the county seat, seat of Fulton County, Georg ...
. Burton had a twin brother who died at birth. When Burton was five, he and his sister witnessed their father commit suicide by shooting himself. He formed a rap group, Da Razkalz Cru, going by the name Bucklyte with Scrapp Deleon then known as Scrappy and SAS. They would later make up The Gang with a rapper named Streetz. They signed with
Elektra Records Elektra Records (or Elektra Entertainment) is an American record label owned by Warner Music Group, founded in 1950 by Jac Holzman and Paul Rickolt. It played an important role in the development of contemporary folk and rock music between the ...
in 2003 and released the single "So Fly". "So Fly" did not bring the success that was desired and the group was dropped from the label soon after. That same year, he met
Akon Aliaune Damala Bouga Time Puru Nacka Lu Lu Lu Badara Akon Thiam (born April 16, 1973), known mononymously as Akon (), is a Senegalese-United States, American singer, songwriter, rapper, record producer, businessman, and philanthropist. An influ ...
and P. Diddy, the latter of whom hired Burton as a model for his
Sean John Sean John is a privately held fashion lifestyle company created by music mogul Sean "Diddy" Combs, Sean John "Diddy" Combs. The line made its fashion debut with a men's sportswear collection for the spring 1998 season. In 2016, the brand had ann ...
line of clothes; Burton appeared on billboards for the clothing line and modeled across the United States. Under the stage name Dolla, Burton signed to Akon's Konvict Muzik label in May 2007. His song "Feelin' Myself" was featured on the '' Step Up (Original Soundtrack)'' in 2006 and was a "bite" of the
Mac Dre Andre Louis Hicks (July 5, 1970 – November 1, 2004), known artistically as Mac Dre, was an American rapper, record producer and songwriter from Vallejo, California. He was an instrumental figure in the emergence of hyphy, a cultural movement ...
song of the same name. He made his debut with the single " Who the Fuck Is That?", which was his highest chart appearance, reaching #82 on the
Billboard Hot 100 The ''Billboard'' Hot 100, also known as simply the Hot 100, is the music industry standard record chart in the United States for songs, published weekly by '' Billboard'' magazine. Chart rankings are based on sales (physical and digital), ...
; the edited version substituted the profanity with "heck". He followed his debut single up with a second promo single "I'm Fucked Up" in the summer of 2008, also an edited version was released using the substitution of the word "tore" replacing "fucked". A third single, entitled "
Make a Toast "Make a Toast" is the second and final single by American rapper Dolla's scrapped debut album ''A Dolla and a Dream''. The song was produced by Julian Bunetta and has an upbeat, triumphant feel to it. Bunetta has sung the background vocals on t ...
", featuring Julian and produced by General G(Leesburg/Mo'Money Ent.), was then officially released on November 4, 2008. It has peaked at #101 on the ''Billboard'' R&B chart. The song "Make a Toast" was released again with the feature of Lil Wayne. His final appearance was in
Ciara Ciara Princess Wilson ( ; Harris; born October 25, 1985) is an American singer, songwriter, dancer and actress. She was discovered by record producer Jazze Pha in the early 2000s, and rose to prominence with her debut studio album, ''Goodies ...
's video for her single " Never Ever". After recording a song called So Fly with fellow rapper,
T.I. Clifford Joseph Harris Jr. (born September 25, 1980), known professionally as T.I. or Tip, is an American rapper and singer raised in Atlanta, Georgia. Harris is credited as a pioneer of the hip hop subgenre trap music, along with fellow Georgi ...
, a video was released on
YouTube YouTube is an American social media and online video sharing platform owned by Google. YouTube was founded on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim who were three former employees of PayPal. Headquartered in ...
with the artists together a week before his death. On October 20, 2008, he was arrested in Atlanta on weapons charges.


Death

Burton flew to
Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...
to record the rest of his debut album, and he was shot on May 18, 2009, at approximately 3:10 pm by 23-year-old Aubrey Louis Berry. Burton was with Scrapp Deleon and his friend DJ Shabbazz when the incident occurred. He was pronounced dead at the hospital. Later that evening, an armed Berry was detained at the
Los Angeles International Airport Los Angeles International Airport is the primary international airport serving Los Angeles and its Greater Los Angeles, surrounding metropolitan area, in the U.S. state of California. LAX is located in the Westchester, Los Angeles, Westcheste ...
. Witnesses say he surrendered without a struggle. His bail was set at $5 million. Bail was subsequently lowered to $1 million by Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Terry Bork in late May. Berry claimed self-defense, but Burton's family disputed that; Burton family spokesman Dennis Byron stated that Berry traveled from Atlanta to Los Angeles with a firearm that was not licensed for use in California. This followed a prior altercation between the two men in an Atlanta nightclub on May 7, 2009, where Berry was beaten and kicked by a group of men including Burton. Berry's attorney, Howard Price, explained that Burton had threatened Mr. Berry at the Beverly Center restaurant. When Mr. Berry left, he saw Burton and two other men following him to his car, and after exchanging words with Burton, he believed Burton was reaching for a weapon. It was then that Mr. Berry shot him four times in self-defense, Burton later died from a bullet wound that pierced his heart. On May 21, Berry was charged with murder and assault, although he pled not guilty. It was mentioned that Burton had ties to a West Los Angeles street gang known as the Mansfield Gangster
Crips The Crips are a primarily African-American alliance of street gangs that are based in the coastal regions of Southern California. Founded in Los Angeles, California, in 1969, mainly by Raymond Washington and Stanley Williams, the Crips ...
. As the murder trial wrapped up before jury deliberation, the defendant's attorney, Howard Price, made much of Burton's
gangsta rap Gangsta rap or gangster rap, initially called reality rap, is a subgenre of rap music that conveys the culture, values, and experiences of urban gangs and street hustlers, frequently discussing unpleasant realities of the world in general th ...
lyrics and videos with gang members to present the victim as a violent gang member and thug who attacked his client. Prosecutors countered that Burton's gang ties are irrelevant and that his music is simply entertainment and part of a culture where violence sells records. On May 21, 2010, a jury acquitted Berry of first-degree murder and all other charges, including assault with a firearm. Burton's funeral was held on May 23 in the Word of Faith Love Center in the East Point neighborhood of Atlanta. The funeral was held in a
Muslim Muslims () are people who adhere to Islam, a Monotheism, monotheistic religion belonging to the Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic tradition. They consider the Quran, the foundational religious text of Islam, to be the verbatim word of the God ...
style, known as
Janazah Islamic funerals () follow fairly specific rites, though they are subject to regional interpretation and variation in custom. In all cases, however, sharia (Islamic religious law) calls for burial of the body as soon as possible. The deceased is ...
. He was buried in Atlanta's
Westview Cemetery Westview Cemetery, located in Atlanta, Georgia, is the largest civilian cemetery in the Southeastern United States, comprising more than , 50 percent of which is undeveloped. The cemetery includes the graves of more than 125,000 people and was ...
. Singer T-Pain paid homage to the late rapper by having a mural of Burton painted on the hood of his vintage car. Additionally, a YouTube video using the unreleased Dolla song "Georgia Nights" has been made as a tribute to him.


Discography


Mixtapes

*''Another Day Another Dolla'' (2008) *''Sextapes: The Art of Seduction'' (2008) *''The Miseducation of Dolla'' (2010) *''The Greatest Hits of Dolla'' (2013)


Singles


See also

*
List of murdered hip hop musicians This is a list of notable rappers and Hip hop music, hip hop musicians murdered since 1987. Two studies in the mid-2010s concluded that murder was the cause of half of hip hop musician deaths. The average age of death is between 25–30 years of ...


References


External links


Fan Site of Dolla
*
Obituary in the ''L.A. Times''

Aubrey Berry, 23, in custody facing murder charges
by
Alex A. Alonso Alex is a given name. Similar names are Alexander, Alexandra, Alexey or Alexis. People Multiple *Alex Brown (disambiguation), multiple people * Alex Cook (disambiguation), multiple people * Alex Forsyth (disambiguation), multiple people *Alexand ...
, StreetGangs.com * {{DEFAULTSORT:Dolla 1987 births 2009 deaths Southern hip-hop musicians African-American male rappers 21st-century American male rappers African-American male models American male models Deaths by firearm in California Jive Records artists People from Decatur, Georgia Rappers from Atlanta Crips Gangsta rappers 20th-century American male musicians 20th-century African-American musicians 21st-century African-American musicians