Five rappers who were shot but survived against all odds
Some professions are, by nature, dangerous ones. Being in the army, for example. Logging workers have a difficult time with falling trees and heavy machinery. Police officers and firefighters have their fair share of fatalities, too.
And then there are hip-hop artists.
As if pursuing a career in music isn’t stressful enough, the hip-hop game is so laden with the very fatalistic beefs that outline both their lyrics and street credibility that, as is the case for some of the genre’s most iconic musicians, great fame and wealth is not enough to protect them from their feuds. Classical musicians seem to have a far higher survival rate.
But what of those that get shot – and live to tell the tale?
There have been a few. Here are five rappers who have been the victims of shooting, and are still here with us today.
Five rappers who were shot but survived against all odds
50 Cent
What is the elixir of immortality? Is there such a substance of eternal life? It’s a mythical concept sought across ancient cultures and pondered on throughout millennia. Perhaps most recently, it made an appearance in Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone. What if rapper 50 Cent has had it the entire time?
It’s a question worth asking when considering just what the hell 50 Cent was up to in 2000. The legendary rapper was shot nine times at close range when sitting in his car outside his grandmother’s house in New York. The bullets hit his chest, legs, arm, hip, hand, and even his face. It’s literally incredible he survived.
21 Savage
Is he British? Is he from Georgia? Wherever he’s from, 21 Savage is lucky to be alive. The Grammy Award-winning rapper survived a shooting on his – well, unlike tales of his nationality, you could not make this up – 21st birthday.
The hip-hop artist was supposed to be celebrating his birthday when a man entered the backseat of Savage’s car, and shot at him six times. Not only was Savage critically injured, but his best friend Johnny B was tragically killed in the attack. “r.i.p Johnny B when they took you my heart turned to ice,” Savage posted shortly afterwards.
French Montana
Before he became the internationally celebrated rapper he is today, French Montana almost died in a shooting that took place outside a recording studio in the Bronx. He was shot in the head by one of two gunmen, and then, somewhat bizarrely, was rushed to hospital by the very person who orchestrated the shooting in the first place.
Not only did one of the gunmen die in the incident, but after French was hospitalised for several weeks, the “Pop That” rapper learnt after he was discharged that he was set up by someone he was close with.
Lil Tjay
In 2022, Bronx-born rapper Lil Tjay was shot seven times during an attempted robbery in New Jersey. He was flown to the hospital and underwent immediate emergency surgery. Others shot at in the exchange included the rapper’s friend Antoine Boyd, and the shooter himself, who escaped with help.
Lil Tjay remained unconscious for a few days afterwards, sparking rumours of his potential paralysis. And yet, amazingly, he survived, releasing the single “Beat the Odds” two months later in which the rapper detailed his experience and recovery.
The Game
In 2001, rapper The Game was shot at five times in Los Angeles. It was a drug deal turned home invasion that would come to symbolise a turning point in his life: upon waking up from a coma, the then 22-year-old decided to dedicate his life to pursuing a career in hip-hop music.
The successful rapper has since commented on the incident. In 2019, The Game uploaded an Instagram post in which he expressed, almost two decades later, gratitude for life and God. “18 years since I was in a coma after getting shot 5 times in the dope spot,” he wrote. “I look at this video of the younger me & I can’t do anything but thank God for the opportunity to have a second chance. All I knew was Cedar Block Piru !!!!”