His Instagram caption might be an indication of the worst:

“First We’re Born, Next We Suffer, Then We Die… The End!!”

Rumors are moving faster than facts today, and the name at the center of it all is Lil Poppa. Social media timelines are flooding with posts claiming the Jacksonville rapper has died by suicide, and the city is reportedly in shock. But here is the complicated part. As of this writing, there has been no official confirmation from law enforcement, major news outlets, family, or his verified team. We have tried to reach out in the news section, but nothing definite.

Here is the crazy part.

There are obituary-style write-ups circulating online…polished and definitive. They describe a 25-year-old rising talent gone too soon, praise his talent and even mention privacy requests from the family. Yikes. Prayers up to him, as I was not fully into him musically.

In situations like this, verification matters, but I am not getting a good vibe. I saw a social media comment where somebody purportedly talked to his mom. So far, we have not gotten a definite. Here is what a source told me via text. (It is unedited.)

Yeah bro, pretty solid man he do you know the singing singer rap type stuff but I like him because he was from Jacksonville and he from the same area Foolio from, but he never really got into the beef and he never dissed anything like that you know. To the point where a lot of people don’t even know he’s from Jacksonville…he was affected by the murderers and stuff. he even did a song they wanted to females that got shot and I miss a beef. He did a song like dedicated to her stuff so I like the man. He was signed early on so he was more commercial than the rest of those guys he was saying because he didn’t have a beef and all that extra stuff attached to him so yeah man, sad man rest in peace

Fans are posting broken heart emojis and commenting in the past tense.

Lil Poppa has long been known for vulnerability in his music and, as I just noted, he’s rapped about it. He spoke openly about struggle, pressure, and the weight of circumstances in Jacksonville’s environment. People felt connected to him.

Hopefully this is just another painful reminder of how quickly misinformation spreads. But it is looking like a devastating loss for Florida Hip-Hop.

For now, we wait.