King Von

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King Von

Name	King Von
Birth Name	Dayvon Daquan Bennett
Alias	King Von, Von
Birth Date	1994-08-09
Birth Place	Chicago, Illinois, U.S.
Death Date	2020-11-06
Death Place	Atlanta,Georgia, U.S.
Years Active	2018–2020
Background	Drill rapper

Dayvon Daquan Bennett (August 9, 1994 – November 6, 2020), known professionally as King Von, was an American rapper from Chicago, Illinois. He was signed to Lil Durk's record label Only the Family and Empire Distribution.

Early life

Bennett was born on August 9, 1994, in Chicago, Illinois. He had six half-siblings from his father, Walter E. Bennett, and three siblings from his mother, Taesha. He was raised mostly by his mother, as his father was in and out of his life due to incarcerations. When Von was 11 years old his father was killed by gunfire. Von would later pay tribute to his father in multiple songs, notably in the song "Exposing Me".

At age 16, Von went to jail for the first time. In 2014, he was charged with one count of first degree murder and two counts of attempted murder in connection with a shooting where a person named Malcolm Stuckey was killed and two others injured. He was acquitted of all charges. He began focusing on his music career, collaborating with Lil Durk. Before his arrest for the charges, Von attended South Suburban College in South Holland, Illinois, and earned some college credits. He earned his GED while in juvenile detention. During this time, he joined the Black Disciples street gang.

Career

After fellow rapper Lil Durk signed King Von to his Only the Family (Originally known as Only Trey Folks) label, Von released his single "Crazy Story" on December 6, 2018, and it became his breakout single.

On Valentine's Day 2019, Von's girlfriend, rapper Asian Doll, released a music video for her track about the artist, "Grandson," in which Von appeared.

In May 2019, "Crazy Story 2.0" featuring Lil Durk was released, and a subsequent music video was later released on May 20, 2021 and peaked at number four on the Bubbling Under Hot 100 chart. On September 13, 2019, a third rendition of the single called "Crazy Story Pt. 3" was released. On July 9, 2019, Lil Durk and King Von released their collaborative single "Like That". On September 2, 2019, Von released his single "What It's Like". The single then appeared on his album Grandson, Vol. 1.

On September 19, 2019, Von released his 15 track mixtape, Grandson, Vol. 1, featuring Lil Durk on a pair of tracks. The album debuted at number 75 on the Billboard 200 and number 27 on the Hip Hop/R&B albums chart. On November 16, 2019, Von released his single "2 A.M". On November 29, 2019, Von released his single "Rollin" featuring YNW Melly, accompanied with a music video. Nugget one of his most popular songs. It was included on his mixtape, Levon James, released on March 6, 2020, which peaked at number 63 on the Billboard 200. The album features verses from NLE Choppa, Tee Grizzley, G Herbo, Lil Durk, and YNW Melly, among others.

On April 29, 2020, King Von released his single "Grandson for President", which did well in popularity. He followed that up with a music video release for "Broke Opps", a song from Levon James. He then released another single, titled "Why He Told" on July 27, 2020, and followed that up with another popular single, "All These Niggas", featuring Chicago rapper Lil Durk, which garnered over 21 million views on YouTube. He then released another single, titled "How It Go", on August 26, 2020.

On October 9, 2020, King Von released "I Am What I Am", featuring New York rapper Fivio Foreign. This release was in anticipation of his debut studio album Welcome to O'Block, released on October 29, 2020. The 16-track album features production Chopsquad DJ, Tay Keith, Wheezy and Hitmaka, among others. The album includes the Polo G collaboration "The Code", which was released with a music video. On December 24, 2020, Lil Durk released his album The Voice as a tribute to King Von, who appears on the album cover and on the song, "Still Trappin'".

On March 4, 2022, King Von's management team released his first posthumous album, What It Means to Be King.

Personal life

Bennett was in an on-and-off relationship with Texas rapper Asian Doll, but the two were reportedly not in a relationship at the time of his death.

Legal issues

On November 21, 2012, Bennett was arrested and booked into Cook County jail for unlawful possession of a firearm.

On July 24, 2014, Bennett was arrested in connection with a shooting in May 2014, resulting in the death of Malcolm Stuckey and the injury of two other men. Bennett was charged with 1 count of murder and 2 counts of attempted murder. The shooting took place in Englewood, Chicago. After witnesses failed to testify in 2017, the charges were dropped.

In June 2019, Bennett and Lil Durk (real name Durk Derrick Banks) were arrested in connection with a shooting in Atlanta. Bennett, along with his co-defendant Banks, appeared before a judge in a Fulton County courtroom for a probable cause hearing. Prosecutors claimed that the two rappers robbed and shot Alexander Witherspoon outside a popular drive-in on February 5, 2019. After weeks in jail, Durk was released on a $250,000 bond, while Von was released from a $300,000 bond.

In July 2021, the Chicago Police released documents concluding that Bennett was responsible for the fatal shooting of 17-year-old Gangster Disciples member Gakirah "K.I." Barnes in April 2014, but were unable to prosecute him due to inconsistencies in witness statements.

Death

On November 6, 2020, at around 2:15 a.m., Bennett and his crew were involved in an altercation with Quando Rondo's crew outside of the Monaco hookah lounge in Atlanta, Georgia. The dispute quickly escalated into gunfire, and Bennett was shot multiple times. He was transported to a hospital in critical condition and died there later that day. He was 26 years old.

The Georgia Bureau of Investigation reported that two people were killed and six wounded. One of them was placed in police custody for the murder of King Von while being treated for a gunshot wound. The suspect was identified as Timothy Leeks, aged 22, a rapper also known as Lul Timm who is affiliated with Quando Rondo.

On November 14, 2020, King Von was buried in Chicago, Illinois.

Remembrance

During the 64th Annual Grammy Awards, Bennett was included in the In Memoriam montage.

In August 2021, a mural depicting King Von was painted by artist Chris Devins, in Parkway Gardens, Chicago (where Von was from). It was meant to serve as a tribute to the late rapper. The mural was seen as controversial amongst Chicago residents – some of them argued that it would attract gang-related crime to the area, and that it was a glorification of gang violence.

Discography

Main article: King Von discography

• Welcome to O'Block (2020)
• What It Means to Be King (2022)

See also

• List of murdered hip hop musicians

External links

• Official website
• kingvonfrmdao
• 11372806