King Von

Chicago rapper King Von first drew notice in the local drill scene when his fluid storytelling caught the attention of Lil Durk. Durk brought him into the Only the Family roster and issued the 2018 breakout single “Crazy Story,” which appeared on King Von’s debut mixtape Grandson, Vol. 1. A month after the arrival of his debut studio album Welcome to O’Block, he was shot outside an Atlanta nightclub and died on November 6, 2020, at age 26. Subsequent releases, among them the 2023 set Grandson, kept his music on the charts well after his death.

Born Dayvon Bennett on Chicago’s South Side, he grew up inside the violence-plagued O Block area. By his teens Bennett had become involved in criminal activity and cycled through jail for several years before turning to rap in 2018. After Lil Durk heard early recordings, he invited King Von into the Only the Family circle. The track “Problems” attracted modest attention, yet the gripping hold-up narrative of “Crazy Story” reached a wider audience; its late-2018 video surpassed twenty million streams. That momentum led to the March 2019 single “Cousins,” which featured JusBlow600.

Seeking to advance his career, King Von moved from Chicago to Atlanta. Grandson, Vol. 1 arrived in September 2019, featured Lil Durk on two tracks, and entered the Billboard 200 at number 75. The follow-up mixtape Levon James landed the next March and maintained the same urgent, boast-driven style while adding YNW Melly and NLE Choppa to the guest list. October 2020 brought his first proper studio album, Welcome to O’Block, which included appearances by Durk, Polo G, Moneybagg Yo, and others. One week later, in the early hours of November 6, King Von was fatally shot during a confrontation outside an Atlanta nightclub; two others also died in the incident.

His first posthumous project, What It Means to Be King, surfaced in 2022 and became his highest-charting release to that point, reaching number two on the Billboard 200 and topping the R&B/hip-hop chart. The 2023 follow-up Grandson, his second posthumous album, showcased 42 Dugg, Lil Durk, Polo G, and additional prominent voices from drill, trap, and mainstream rap while again climbing into the upper ranks of the charts.