The underground rap world, which presumably means anyone with a bad attitude and access to a microphone, just got a lot more nihilistic. Truly anything goes at this point.
A rapper born Markelle Morrow who adopted a street name of “Goonew” was featured at his own funeral – propped up and hanging from something. Note to the race-hustling crowd: He wasn’t lynched. I just feel like this has to be said if Al Sharpton watched this video.
Someone captured the ghastly visual and posted it to Twitter (you’ve been warned that this is a corpse):
Popular rapper Goonew was shot and killed in Prince George's County. His family hosted his funeral in a club where his body was propped up like a mannequin to join the celebration. pic.twitter.com/ge1mvpzISq
— Coki (@Zucoki) April 4, 2022
Apparently, the background on Morrow was that he was a younger dude, just twenty-four years old, and he had been killed in an attempted robbery. This is about par for the course for this lifestyle. A young black man killed by street violence? Say it ain’t so.
A few different media outlets pounced on this bizarre and depraved story. TMZ wrote:
“Rapper Goonew was quite literally front and center at his own funeral … with his body propped up and on display in a club.
The 24-year-old’s funeral, named The Final Show, was held at Bliss Nightclub in Washington D.C. Sunday, and footage from inside the building appears to show the rapper’s embalmed corpse overlooking the crowd, fully dressed up and wearing a crown.
The audience reaction is pretty mixed … some are dancing along to the music, while others are stone-faced, staring at the dead body in front of them. Bliss Nightclub said they weren’t made aware of the tribute ahead of time, according to TooFab, and have apologized to anyone offended.”
Apparently, the background on Morrow was that he was a younger dude, just twenty-four years old, and he had been killed in an attempted robbery. This is about par for the course for this lifestyle. A young black man killed by street violence? Say it ain’t so.
A few different media outlets pounced on this bizarre and depraved story. TMZ wrote:
“Rapper Goonew was quite literally front and center at his own funeral … with his body propped up and on display in a club.
The 24-year-old’s funeral, named The Final Show, was held at Bliss Nightclub in Washington D.C. Sunday, and footage from inside the building appears to show the rapper’s embalmed corpse overlooking the crowd, fully dressed up and wearing a crown.
The audience reaction is pretty mixed … some are dancing along to the music, while others are stone-faced, staring at the dead body in front of them. Bliss Nightclub said they weren’t made aware of the tribute ahead of time, according to TooFab, and have apologized to anyone offended.”
The New York Post also got in on the action:
“It was like the hip-hop equivalent of “Weekend at Bernie’s.”
Washington, DC’s Bliss nightclub has apologized over an appalling spectacle in which the body of slain rapper Goonew was reportedly displayed on their stage at his own funeral. The memorial service took place Sunday, weeks after the hip-hopper was shot dead at 24 years old.
While initially unclear if the figure was Goonew’s actual corpse or a mannequin, the general consensus is that the body was, in fact, his.”
Honestly, given the self-obsession over image, bling, name, street cred, and everything else that goes with contemporary black urban culture, learning that some would-be gangsta was hung from the rafters at his own funeral isn’t all that surprising. And if he or his team wanted to blast attention to a previously-unknown “musician artist,” then mission accomplished. We’ve all heard the nanem Goonew now.
And we wished we hadn’t.
