'We will lose a whole generation': Friends speak out after fatal shooting of rapper YNG Cheese

PHILADELPHIA - More information is coming light regarding a triple shooting in Olney that killed local rapper YNG Cheese. Philadelphia's music community is heartbroken and friends are talking about the young man they knew.

Well-known Philadelphia producer Whiz Gham, close friends with Gillie Da Kid and "Unk" to YNG Cheese, displayed his last text messages from his nephew, realizing he won’t get another one again.

"I would get those random texts from him, asking, ‘Unk, how does it sound? I need you to hear this music.’ And, that’s what we discussed because that was something he loved," Whiz Gham explained.

Music not only connected Cheese to his uncle, but also his father, Nasir Fard, better known as Gillie Da Kid.

"His sons, since they would come into the studio and back, running around when we play with them and wrestle around, I seen them as children," Whiz Gham remarked. "So, I seen them as children and grow into men and have their own children."

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"Gillie was definitely tapped into his family and how he dealt with his children is incredible. And, I’m very proud of him for that," owner of Glockawer Radio, Tucan, explained.

Devin Spady, using the stage name YNG Cheese, was in a rap group with his brother, Mac, making them Mac and Cheese. Community activist Taleah Taylor says the hip hop culture is partially to blame for the violence.

"With the rap murders as beef, going back and forth, and back and forth. But that’s the way the wave is," Taylor stated. "That’s where our culture, the hip hop culture, is now. It’s not real hip hop. It’s just a whole murder scene."

"As Black men, we gotta be more accountable. We got to have accountability. We have to be accountable to step up and teach our young men that what we learned is wrong," Whiz Gham said.

Gillie’s father also co-hosts podcasts Million Dollaz Worth of Game, with motivator Wallo, trying to teach young people to stay out of the streets.

"The world we came from – it’s a lie. There’s no way out of it, if you stay in it," Whiz Gham continued. "So, the game that they’re giving these kids and these young boys is very valuable because they have lived it. We will lose a whole generation. If this keeps happening, we will lose a whole generation of Black men."

And, while he knows his friend is hurting, and will be for some time, he says, "I know he’s gonna find something from this to use into what he’s doing. Somehow, some way, I think his message is gonna become even stronger."

Funeral arrangements have been finalized for Devin, or YNG Cheese. A viewing will be held Monday, at 11 a.m., at The Met Philadelphia, at 858 North Broad Street, followed by the service at 12 p.m.

Internment will be at Westminster Cemetery, located at 701 Belmont Ave, in Bala Cynwyd.