Who is Young Dolph? The man behind the music

MEMPHIS, Tenn. (WMC) - He was born Adolph Thornton Jr. July 27, 1985 in Chicago but is known to millions of fans as Young Dolph.

He moved to Memphis when he was two years old to live with his grandmother who raised him.

The 36-year-old was a graduate of Hamilton High School and, according to Shelby County Schools Superintendent Joris Ray, he was a very generous supporter of SCS -- donating $25,000 to his old high school as well as visiting area schools and talking to students in the process.

Young Dolph was also a supporter of his old Castalia neighborhood not far from where he was shot Wednesday.

According to a friend, he had just purchased a semi-truck load of turkeys to give away to families in that neighborhood for Thanksgiving.

A Facebook post by Choose 901 described him as “more than just a rapper from Memphis...he personified the real and raw hustle that only us Memphians can appreciate.”

As for his music, Young Dolph released his debut studio album in 2016 titled “King of Memphis” -- it hit No. 49 on the Billboard 200 chart.

In 2017, Dolph was shot outside a store in Hollywood and spent a couple of weeks in the hospital recovering from three gunshot wounds; no one was ever formally charged in that shooting.

Young Dolph put out a total of seven albums -- the last one coming out in August 2020 entitled “Rich Slave.”

Dolph leaves behind two children -- a boy and a girl.

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