Los Angeles rapper Drakeo the Ruler is reportedly in critical condition after being stabbed outside a 12-hour concert at the Banc of California Stadium and Exposition Park, the Los Angeles Times reported Sunday.
The stabbing occurred between 8:30 and 8:40 p.m. when the rapper was attacked by several people and stabbed in the neck, according to multiple media reports.
Drakeo, 28, whose real name is Darrell Caldwell, was taken to a hospital and was reportedly in critical condition, the online magazine HipHopDX said.
The stabbing occurred at the Once Upon a Time in LA Music Festival, which was slated to run from 11 a.m. to 11 p.m., but was shut down early by police and firefighters, said Officer G. Todd of the Los Angeles Police Department’s Operations Center.
Video from the scene posted on social media showed several people arguing and fighting with each other outside the concert, but it was unclear what sparked the confrontations.
“There was an altercation in the roadway backstage,” a Live Nation spokesperson said in a statement to the Times. “Out of respect for those involved and in coordination with local authorities, artists and organizers (we) decided not to move forward with remaining sets so the festival was ended an hour early.”
Artists including Al Green, Snoop Dogg, 50 Cent, Ice Cube, the Isley Brothers and Cypress Hill were scheduled to perform.
Caldwell is a Los Angeles native who has released 10 mixtapes since 2015 and put out his first studio album earlier this year titled “I Am Mr. Mosely.” Critics have cited his unique flow and “oddly expressive, poetic word-choices.” The Los Angeles Times has called him “the most original West Coast stylist in decades.”
He was arrested in 2017 on a murder charge, but was acquitted, NPR reported. He was not released until November 2020, NPR said, because prosecutors argued his lyrics and music videos were proof that his rap group, Stinc Team, was a violent gang and Drakeo was its leader.
The gang conspiracy case was resolved with a plea deal, leading to Caldwell’s release.