Drill rapper Bloodhound Q50 was well aware of the dangers he faced in Chicago.
Born Mikquale T. Cooper, the rapper had lost friends and collaborators to gun violence — and he recently acknowledged that he was likely also a target.
“I’m not chasing death, but … I’m not running from it either,” he told rap vlogger DJ Akademiks last month. “I know what I signed up for. I know one slip up [and] it’s over.”
Early Sunday, six gunmen ambushed Cooper at a Fuller Park gas station, according to a Chicago police report. A witness recalled hearing more than 100 gunshots coming from rapid-fire weapons.
Cooper, 22, was shot multiple times and killed, officials said. No arrests have been announced.
It’s just the latest death linked to Chicago drill rap, a subgenre defined by violent lyrics and gritty music videos that often highlights gang rivalries.
Cooper split his childhood between Chicago’s East Side and Northwest Indiana, according to another interview in April 2025.
He said he was primarily raised by a grandmother and often got into trouble at school. In sixth grade, he said he was disciplined for bringing a BB gun to class and shooting a girl.
Guns and violence became cornerstones of his life.
His cousin, another rapper who used the moniker Bloodhound Zmoney, was gunned down in March 2023, according to the interview. Cooper said it was the first person close to him killed “due to the streets.”
“That was the first heartbreak,” he told vlogger DJ Vlad.
That September, Cooper was shot in the leg in Irving Park. As first responders rendered aid, officers found a gun in his backpack, according to an arrest report. He pleaded guilty to a gun charge and was sentenced to a year in prison, with more than four months of time served, court records show.
Two of Cooper’s other associates — rappers Bloodhound Lil Jeff and Lil Scoom89 — were also killed in the summer of 2024. Cooper said he ultimately started taking rap seriously to give his loved ones “the life we deserve.”
Last month, Cooper released a new album, “Get Back or Die Trying.” But just as his buzz was growing, and he was racking up millions of streams, his life was cut short.
Around 4 a.m. Sunday, Cooper drove a white Tesla into the BP gas station at 4248 S. Wentworth Ave., according to a police report. After he parked, a black Infiniti with two masked occupants pulled up alongside his car.
As Cooper and his female passenger made their way into the gas station, a Honda Accord drove into the lot, with more masked occupants, the report said. Someone from the Infiniti walked over and started removing items from the Honda.
When Cooper returned to the Tesla, six assailants jumped out of the other cars, opened fire and then fled, the report said. Cooper was struck in the chest and shoulder.
He was taken to the University of Chicago Medical Center and pronounced dead about half an hour later.
The witness told the Sun-Times he arrived at the gas station just seconds before the shooting erupted.
“When I hopped out the car, the shots started almost immediately,” said the witness, who asked to remain anonymous out of fear for his safety.
“One of the bullets hit the front of my car and ricocheted … and that’s when I got all the way behind the truck.”
The witness said he heard at least two guns firing at a rapid pace. “I thought I heard over 100 [shots],” he said. “I think the markings stopped at 80 or something, but I feel like I heard way more than that.”
He wanted to leave once the gunfire stopped, but he stayed around to console the woman who was with Cooper. She told him one of the shooters pulled up to their vehicle while Cooper was inside the gas station and gave her a warning:
“This is gonna be your man’s last night alive.”
