Killed in downtown triple shooting, Toronto rapper Houdini was poised to be ‘the next big thing’

A rising rap star poised to be “the next big thing to come out of Toronto” is instead the latest victim of the city’s ongoing gun violence after he was killed in a brazen daylight triple shooting in the Entertainment District Tuesday.

Dimarjio Jenkins, a 21-year-old rapper who performed under the name Houdini, was fatally shot just after 4 p.m. in the area of King Street West and Peter Street. A 15-year-old boy and a 27-year-old woman were also injured but are expected to recover.

Toronto police chief Mark Saunders said that although the shooting appeared to be targeted, the woman is believed to be an “innocent” bystander who “has absolutely nothing to do with this.”

Police said the shooting happened after an occupant of a blue Volkswagen Tiguan SUV began shooting at Jenkins and another victim as they were walking back to a vehicle. The suspects had been “deliberately waiting” in their SUV “and then as soon as they had the opportunity they started the shooting,” Saunders said.

No suspect information has yet been released, but Saunders said investigators are looking for the driver of the SUV as well as a shooter, who briefly got out on the passenger side while firing before getting back in the car, which then fled westbound on Front Street, then northbound on Spadina Avenue.

On social media, a flood of fans and high-profile musicians mourned Jenkins as a rising star in the city’s rap scene. The promising artist had amassed legions of fans and more than 330,000 monthly listeners on music streaming service Spotify — all as an independent artist without a promotional team.

“I’m trying, and I can’t fight the tears from falling .. I can’t even find the words for a speech right now,” GTA rapper Tory Lanez wrote in an Instagram tribute. “ALL HE WANTED TO DO WAS LIVE.”

“Rocked WIT YOUNGBULL VIBE AS A PERSON RIP! PRAYERS TO HIS SIDE!” wrote Philadelphia rapper Meek Mill.

Jag Virk, a Toronto lawyer who represents many local rappers, including Jenkins, described him as a “very nice, kind, humble young man.

“The sadder thing is he was going to be the next big thing to come out of Toronto, and already had a huge fan following … so it’s just a huge loss for the Toronto hip hop community.”

Virk said Jenkins, who grew up at Yonge and Finch, had spent a lot of time in Los Angeles but was forced to return to Toronto because of the pandemic.

Asked about an Instagram tribute to Jenkins that said “Greatness breeds Jealousy,” Virk acknowledged “there is an unfortunate issue with young, black male rappers being shot or killed all over North America” that appears linked to envy — and poverty.

“When people start to get fame and success, there’s people from the neighbourhood who may be jealous about that and lash out,” he said Wednesday. “It’s usually someone is jealous about not getting a handout, or feels they’re owed something, or they want a piece of the success. If the artist is not ready to give it to them, then, this seems to be the horrible consequence.”

Virk wanted to make clear he was speculating in general as he does not know why Jenkins was killed.

Friday Ricky Dred, a music producer and co-host of the “We Love Hip Hop” podcast, said Jenkins, to him, represents “the quintessential look of the young, inner city black Toronto youth,” but that his massive streaming numbers show his reach had stretched into suburban homes.

Like other young rappers in North America killed on the cusp of success, it is a “crazy waste, they get so close, boom, lights out. What the hell, man.”

But he cautioned against rushing to judgment that the hip hop genre is responsible, when it is “connected to the poverty cycle.” He noted some of the rappers who have appeared on the podcast have blamed social media for escalating conflicts.

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Jenkins had a gift for melody and “could pull effortlessly infectious hooks out of the ether, often freestyling his verses on the spot,” said Alex Gheciu, editor of entertainment news outlet Complex Canada.

Jenkins’ growing success was on “raw talent alone,” with no publicist or promotional team behind him, Gheciu said.

“In my opinion, he was one of the country’s most promising young artists. The saddest part is he was just getting started. He told me he was still just trying to find his sound. Even as a work in progress, he stood out,” Gheciu said.

Jenkins had just released an EP called underGROUND in March, saying in an interview with Gheciu that he decided to put out new music during the pandemic “because everyone’s at home, just on their phone.”

“So I have a chance of getting a lot of streams on this EP. I wasn’t going to just drop it (this early), I was going to wait until summer time. But something just told me, ‘Yo, if you have the ability to just drop music, do it. Do it as much as you can.’”

Jenkins is only the latest Toronto rapper to be killed in the city this year: Tyronne Noseworthy, 19, was among three men who died in a high-profile triple shooting in a condo being rented on Airbnb at Queens Wharf Road and Fort York Boulevard in February.

Noseworthy, who was known as fourty4double0, was part of the rap duo Tallup Twinz. In late 2019, another Toronto rapper, 18-year-old Keeshawn Brown, who was known as Why-S, was shot dead inside a house in Surrey, B.C.

Jenkins, Noseworthy and Brown all appeared on music produced by the rap collective UpTop Movement Inc., based out of North York’s Jane and Finch neighbourhood.

Jenkins had previously collaborated with Tallup Twinz’ Noseworthy, including on a 2017 song called “456” and 2018 song, “No Favours.”

Two years ago, in another brazen daylight shooting in the Entertainment District over the 2018 Canada Day long weekend, two other Toronto rappers were gunned down: Jahvante Smart, known as Smoke Dawg, and Ernest Modekwe, known as Koba Prime or Kosi.

Jenkins’ death is Toronto’s 30th homicide and the 18th fatal shooting so far this year, the most by this date since 2016.

With files from Ilya Bañares

Wendy Gillis is a Toronto-based reporter covering crime and policing for the Star. Reach her by email at wgillis@thestar.ca or follow her on Twitter: @wendygillis