Philadelphia City Council resolution honors slain rapper PnB Rock – Metro Philadelphia | Popgen Tech

The Philadelphia City Council approved a resolution Thursday honoring Hip Hop recording artist PnB Rock. The honor passed unanimously by voice vote in a Council session held on September 22.

Proposed by Councilor Kenyatta Johnson, the resolution comes after his death as the rapper originally from Germantown was shot on September 12 inside a Los Angeles restaurant. A funeral service was reportedly held on September 21 for the beloved singer and rapper at Khadijah Alderman Funeral Home in North Philadelphia.

“The passing of PnB Rock is definitely a great loss to the City of Philadelphia,” Johnson said. “We encourage these young artists to succeed and be successful, especially when they overcome the challenges of living in an urban environment like the City of Philadelphia.

“We must continue to keep his life and legacy moving forward by encouraging other young people to stay on the right path and do the right thing.”

Johnson recalls meeting PnB Rock about five years ago at a Stop The Violence event held at the Universal Audenried Charter School in South Philly.

“What stood out to me was that he was very respectful, he had good manners,” Johnson added. “You could tell this was a young man going somewhere.”

PnB Rock was born Rakim Hasheem Allen December 1991. Originally signed to Atlantic Records in 2015, PnB is best known for his 2016 single “Selfish” which reached No. 16 on the Billboard charts and sold over 3 million copies .

The song Johnson remembers most, however, is “My City Needs Something.”

“He used his platform in that song to encourage his friends, who are the young people here in the City of Philadelphia, to put down their weapons,” Johnson said.

“If you listen to that song, he talks about the loss of friends and family here in Philadelphia and uses his platform to encourage young people to stop violence.”

In a twist of tragic irony, PnB Rock succumbed to the same street violence he had campaigned against for many years.

The rapper was shot and killed at Roscoe’s Chicken and Waffles in Los Angeles moments after his girlfriend Stephanie Sibounheuang posted a photo of the couple on Instagram.

Originally, the Police suspected a robbery, as his assailant cut jewelry from the murdered man’s body moments before he left through a side door to a waiting car. More recent news reports however, say that LAPD is looking into possible enemies that PnB Rock may have had.

One of five siblings born to mother Hanunah and father Raymond, PnB Rock had two siblings follow him into the music business, including PnB Meen.

Before Wednesday’s funeral service, family members had complained on social media that the authorities were not releasing the rapper’s body and therefore, could not give their loved one a funeral service traditional Muslim.

In a since-deleted Instagram post, PnB Meen wrote, “We’ve been having trouble getting my Philadelphia brothers back. The state of Los Angeles claims that they have some kind of Law, it goes against us as Muslims. Now I have no clue when his Janazah. It’s not right that a week is going on.”

Janazah is an Islamic funeral rite.

PnB Rock and his family are Muslims and had claimed his body immediately due to religious customs. A spokesman for the Los Angeles Medical Examiner’s office confirmed that Allen’s relatives expressed concerns about an autopsy and that his body was not ready for release until September 16 and was recovered the next day.

On his Instagram that was posted on Thursday morning, PnB Meen wrote: “(Walking through) the City with my Brother for the last time. I never imagined Rock Leaving like this, I want to be Strong for the Family and keep it…”

Besides his mother and siblings, PnB Rock is survived by his daughters Milan Allen and Xuri Lee.

A statement issued by Atlantic Records shortly after his death said: “PnB Rock was more than an artist. To many, Rakim Allen was a great friend. He was also a wonderful father to two beautiful girls,” the label wrote. “This news is heavy on our hearts and we are all hurting because of this senseless loss. Our thoughts and prayers are with his family at this difficult time.”