ATLANTA — Hip-hop fans mourned a tragic loss Thursday inside Atlanta's Trap Music Museum. CJ Williams, the museum's general manager, learned Atlanta native Dequantes Devontay Lamar, otherwise known as rapper Rich Homie Quan, died Thursday.
"It's jarring because we weren't expecting it," Williams said. "You never can really be in a space to expect to lose a person that has been so instrumental and legendary to the city of Atlanta. This guy's influence on the way trap music evolved, we can't talk about the city of Atlanta and trap music if we don't talk about Rich Homie Quan."
Atlanta Police got the call from Rich Homie Quan's girlfriend Thursday morning around 11 a.m. to Hamden Forest Drive in Southwest Atlanta.
"I need an ambulance," the caller told police. "He never got up. I don't feel a heartbeat, I don't see him breathing. I turned him over, he kind of foamed at the mouth."
An ambulance took Quan to the hospital, where he was pronounced dead.
Williams said music was Quan's way of overcoming trials and tribulation. Quan rose to fame in the early 2010's, trailblazing the evolution of trap music with songs like "Type of Way" and "Flex." He eventually created his own label.
He also helped form the group Rich Gang, which included rapper Young Thug. Young Thug, whose name is Jeffery Williams, is currently in the spotlight in the Young Slime Life Trial. There have been mentions this week of Rich Homie Quan's name from witnesses who took the stand.
"To talk about one, you have to talk about the other," CJ Williams said. "Young Thug and Rich Homie Quan were like a two-sided coin or a double-edged knife."
Williams said Rich Homie Quan's passing presents a chance to remember, reflect and reignite the future stars of hip-hop.
"The other beautiful part is that the music will live on," Williams said. "People will go back and listen to all his old music, and someone is going to be inspired."
An autopsy into his death is expected to be performed on Friday, the medical examiner's office said. Next month would have marked his 34th birthday.