Ty Dolla Sign pays tribute to One Direction’s Liam Payne
The world was shocked on October 16th after it emerged former One Direction member Liam Payne had died aged 31. The circumstances surrounding Payne’s death are still currently unknown. In the hip-hop world, tributes have poured in since from Ty Dolla Sign, Zedd and Juicy J.
It has been reported by local Argentine media that Payne fell from the third floor of his hotel room in Buenos aires. A transcript of a call made by the hotel manager to emergency services claim that prior to his death, Payne was acting erratically in the lobby and was carried to his room shortly before his fall.
As a lot of One Direction fans and pop music lovers have paid tribute to the singer, so too has the hip-hop world. Juicy J of the Three Six Mafia, who had previously worked with Payne on the 2016 song ‘You’, took to social media to share his condolences. “R.I.P. Liam Payne,” he wrote, “Wow I can’t believe it prayers up for the family.”
Public Enemy member Flavor Flav shared a similar sentiment. He appeared shocked at the news as he wrote, “R.I.P. to Liam Payne, much too young.”
While Payne wasn’t considered a hip-hop artist by any stretch of the imagination, some of his solo work after One Direction did lean further into the rap and R&B world. He worked with a number of rappers who provided features on his songs, including ‘Strip That Down’, which had a fun instrumental and also featured a guest verse from Quavo.
Other artists that Payne worked with throughout his solo career also paid tribute to the singer, including J Balvin, A Boogie Wit da Hoodie, and Zedd. One artist that he never collaborated with was Ty Dolla Sign; however, it appears they intended to work together on something, as Ty revealed he had spoken to Payne recently before passing on his condolences.
“Just talked to you 2 days ago my guy,” he said, “Ima miss u frfr.” There was also a tribute from Zedd, who appeared on Liam Payne’s only solo album. He wrote, “R.I.P. Liam, I can’t believe this is real. Absolutely heartbreaking.”
When Payne started making his own music, he admitted that he was nervous about moving away from the pop rock that One Direction had made so popular. He confessed that hip-hop was one of his favourite genres and that he had always wanted to work with artists from that world.
“I listen to a lot of rap music,” he said in a previous interview. “It’s important to do something that you want to do, but you can’t forget your fan base, you can’t forget your roots.”