The gangster rapper known to his fans as "Twelve A'Klok" was fatally shot early Monday in eastern New Orleans.
Argell White, 36, died from multiple bullet wounds to the back, coroner's chief investigator John Gagliano said.
His identity was released Wednesday, after authorities managed to get in touch with his relatives.
According to police, a newspaper deliverer found White lying on the ground bleeding in the 6800 block of Parc Brittany Boulevard about 5:15 a.m. The deliverer called 911, but White died before Emergency Medical Services paramedics treated him, Gagliano said.
Investigators have not released details about a motive or suspect in the killing.
White considered himself one of the founding members of the Cut Throat Committy record label. The group's most famous founder was White's cousin, renowned rapper James "Soulja Slim" Tapp, who is believed to have been the victim of a $10,000 hit in 2003 that played out on the lawn of Tapp's mother's home just as he appeared poised for mainstream stardom.
"(White) must have been (talented) if my son" entered business with him, said Linda Tapp, Soulja Slim's mother and the label's owner. "(Slim) liked to bring up a bunch of young, good rappers."
White released a number of albums for Cut Throat with titles such as "Lost 2 the World," "Cold Case," "Over Kill" and the two-volume "Still Standin'." On one of his MySpace profiles, he described his style as "real ... street (music). . . . We don't do love song(s) and we don't dance. Forget about it!"
He never enjoyed the fame his cousin did, Tapp said, but White's work earned him a decent following in the metro New Orleans area. Webpages featuring his music tallied tens of thousands of visits and counted hundreds of users as "friends."
White weathered serious run-ins with the judicial system during his life. He spent several years in prison after pleading guilty to an armed robbery in 1991. Almost a year to the day before his death, White was named a person of interest in the mysterious disappearance and death of an aspiring rapper who he had apparently argued with. Police, however, never booked him with a crime.
According to authorities, White lived in Harvey. He claimed on his MySpace to be married and a "proud parent."
Source: New Orleans Times-Picayune
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