Lil Poppa or Janarious Mykel Wheeler, a rapper based out of Jacksonville, Florida, died at the age of 25. The Fulton County Medical Examiner’s Office in Georgia told TMZ that he had passed away at 11:23 am ET.
A cause of death was not immediately known.
Lil Poppa was signed to Yo Gotti’s Collective Music Group (CMG) and has had some hits over the years like Love & War and Mind Over Matter. He was slated to perform next month in New Orleans.
As condolences poured in with many saying he was ‘gone too soon’, a lot of focus shifted on his family and relationships, including his time with Toie Roberts.
Lil Poppa girlfriend and past relationships
Lil Poppa was with Toie Roberts, daughter of rapper Rick Ross. Toie was born on March 17, 2002.
She’s the CEO of Ashanti Beauty. Ross told Miami Living Magazine that Toie could run a Wingstop by the time she was 14. She had her first child with Lil Poppa in 2022. Ross celebrated the birth of PJ with a social media post where he said he was a ‘Gucci grandpa’.
“I gotta bust this, ’cause you know why, I’m now a grandfather,” he had written at the time, while congratulating his daughter.
Toie and Lil Poppa are believed to have started seeing each other prior to 2022, but had kept the relationship under wraps. The news of the pregnancy of course put things in the spotlight.
Lil Poppa kept his personal life out of the private eye since the birth of his son. There are no reports indicating a split between the two, which makes it likely he and Toie were together to the end. While the private nature of their relationship had often led to fan speculations about a split in the past, these were never confirmed.
Lil Poppa: What to know
Lil Poppa was born in 1994 and reportedly had two siblings. He’s long struggled with sickle cell anemia and has even opened up about his problems to fans. While many online have speculated whether his underlying illness had anything to do with the early demise, there has been no official confirmation of the same.
Many people expressed condolences at the news of his demise. One person remarked “gotta missed you voice.” Another said “Crazy bro, i was bumping his song last year ALL day.” Yet another added, “I’ll forever miss this dude.”
