Young Dolph Supported Memphis Cancer Clinic In His Final Interview

Two days before he was gunned down while buying cookies at his favorite bakery in Memphis, Tennessee, rapper Young Dolph visited a cancer center where a relative had received treatment. The 36-year-old rapper visited a Memphis Cancer Clinic where he gave one of his final known interview. He was shot multiple times inside Makeda’s Cookies, a popular bakery chain owned by a Black family and known for tasty butter cookies and banana pudding.

Young Dolph was brought up on the streets of Memphis. He visited his hometown ahead of Thanksgiving and handed out turkeys at a church and other locations. He stopped by West Cancer Center in the Memphis suburb of Germantown on Monday, spending time with clinical staff and thanking them for compassionate care given to a relative, the center said in a statement.

Dolph bonded with the clinical staff and told them stories about his connection to the institute. Presently, Dolph’s aunt is undergoing treatment in the facility and previously, his uncle and grandmother visited the facility. He told the faculty, “Over the years, I had several family members to come through here and been patients of the clinic, so I really wanted to show up and show them my support, and show them how thankful I am, just for them being there.”

The rapper explained, “I wanted to show up and just wanted to thank them for what they do, Cause it ain’t an easy job. Like, it’s kind of hard, you know what I mean? Just seeing people in those conditions, like, some people be more down than others. Some be alright. It just be all about timing. Like, even the ones that be alright, it only last for so long but they do a hell of a job. And I just wanted to come and congratulate them and let ’em know I appreciate them.”

“Our associates were deeply touched by his sincerity and effort to extend such gratitude,” the cancer center’s statement said. “During his visit, Dolph explained that he would soon venture to donate turkeys to the Memphis community at a variety of community centers across the city before Thanksgiving — which is yet another testament to his gracious heart.” The gritty southern hood where Young Dolph grew up helped him fuel his influential career in the hip-hop world — and was ultimately where his life was taken from him.

Police has started investigation for suspects in the killing, which shook Memphis as well as the hip-hop world to witness another senseless act of gun violence against an Afro-American. Sadly, violence continued to erupt in Memphis shortly after Dolph’s passing as one fan was shot and killed near Dolph’s memorial that was erected outside the store.

Fans have descended on the cookie shop, where a memorial of balloons and stuffed animals steadily grew in front of the store’s boarded up windows. His acts of charity solidified his reputation in Memphis, a city dealing with poverty, gun violence and disproportionately high incarceration rates of Black people. Makeda’s Cookies issued a statement saying its owners are deeply heartbroken by the death of Young Dolph, who recently appeared in an Instagram post promoting the store.