Just a week-and-a-half before he was shot and killed in an attempted robbery, rapper PnB Rock said in an interview that brazen robbery attempts have been taking place in Los Angeles.
The rapper, whose birth name is Rakim Hasheem Allen, was killed at Roscoe’s House of Chicken ‘N Waffles in South Los Angeles on Monday afternoon. In an interview with DJ Akademiks on Sept. 2, he talked about rappers being seen as targets for robberies, KTLA sister station KRON reports.
Allen said that in Los Angeles, brazen robberies have become common.
“Where I’m from, we like sneaky criminals,” he said. “In L.A., it’s like they bold.”
Allen told a story about a time when he, his girlfriend and his child were out in L.A. when a group of people followed them. He said in the interview that robbery attempts on rappers are becoming common, but he had not been robbed.
“I never got robbed. Never in my life. I ain’t gon’ say never because I don’t like saying never… I’m not superstitious or nothing like that… but I haven’t been robbed,” he said.
Allen said he has been more careful since his brother was killed. He avoided places like nightclubs and strip clubs, instead going places where he would be less likely to put himself at risk.
“I’m not going to put myself in those situations because I know what happens in those situations,” he said.
The rapper was killed while having lunch with his girlfriend, Stephanie Sibounheuang, at Roscoe’s. Police said the suspect demanded items from him before shooting him and taking his property. Police have not made an arrest for the shooting.
“The victim was sitting at a table eating with a female witness when he was approached by the suspect. The suspect then brandished a firearm and demanded his property. We don’t have the audio as to what the exact verbal exchange was at that time. The suspect then fired multiple rounds and then appears to remove some property, to what extent we don’t know at this time,” LAPD told the media.
Allen, a Philadelphia native, signed with Atlantic Records in 2015. His song “Selfish” made it the No. 51 spot on Billboard’s Top 100. He was 30 years old.