The Los Angeles County Medical Examiner-Coroner confirms the rapper died Saturday, January 30 at his home, while tributes pour in from hip-hop community for the L.A. rap hero.
- Feb 1, 2021
AceShowbiz - Double K, a member of the Los Angeles underground rap duo People Under the Stairs, has passed away. The rapper died at his home on Saturday, January 30, per the Los Angeles County Medical Examiner-Coroner, though a cause of death is not immediately given.
DJ Mark Luv, a friend of the late star, said he died in his sleep. He was 43 years old. His family or representative has not released a statement on his passing, but tributes have poured in from the hip-hop community.
"Not Double K. What a dope persona and artist," Psalm One tweeted. "One of my first big national tours PUTS was gracious enough to take me out. Double K was a f**king west coast pioneer. This is tough. Prayers up for K, his family, and Thes. REST IN POWER DOUBLE K."
RJ also mourned the death of the so-called L.A. rap hero. "Damn.... RIP Double K," he posted on his own Twitter page. "Never knew the PUTS guys personally, but it felt like there was a concurrent thing happening on the west coast to the Jux/Fondle em/RSE thing, and they were in the middle of it. Condolences to Thes One."
"Just found out that Los Angeles last (sic) another hero," Rhettmatic added. "Rest in peace to Crescent Heights very own DJ Double K of @puts. Mike was a good man." Open Mike Eagle tweeted, "damn rip double K," while J-Live treasured his time with Double K, "Man. Just finished watching a memorial for my Uncle. Just found out we lost Double K of People Under The Stairs… Rest In Peace brother. Glad to have known you and toured with you. Peace and strength to the family."
Double K's last Instagram post has also been flooded with messages of condolences from his peers and fans. "Rest In Peace brother...LA lost another piece of its history. Your music/legacy will live on," one paid tribute. Another simply wrote in the comments, "Rest In Peace."
Someone else expressed grief, "My brother K i have no words for you right now. My heart is broken tonight and I'm going to cherish our convo we had and I will always be blessed to have served you that Artifacts windbreaker when you reached out to me it made me very happy. We instantly spoke about the shows we did together thes my bro you always been good dude and y'all showed me mad love on our travels. I love y'all. Double k rest in lyrics my man. P.U.T.S forever."
Born Michael Turner, Double K formed People Under the Stairs with Christopher Portugal (Thes One) in 1997. They released the group's debut album "The Next Step" a year later and made nine more albums in the following years until their disbandment in 2019. Despite being labeled as an underground group, they achieved much commercial success over the years, influencing a generation of rappers that came after them.
"Where I grew up, there was the negative, and I had the positive, which was my music," Double K told the Los Angeles Times in 2019 about his musical aspiration. "I was surrounded by the negativity, the things going on in the streets, the stuff that I thought that I wanted to be a part of. I decided that this was more important. I just holed up in my room, listening to music, and then I met this dude and I had somebody else to listen to music with."
