Travon DaShawn Frank Smart (January 13, 1997 – June 18, 2018), better known by his stage name Jimmy Wopo, was an American rapper. Wopo was an affiliate of fellow Pittsburgh-based rapper

Wiz Khalifa Cameron Jibril Thomaz (born September 8, 1987), better known by his stage name Wiz Khalifa, is an American rapper, singer-songwriter and actor. Raised in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, he signed with the local independent label Rostrum Records to re ...

and his Taylor Gang imprint. He made his first high-profile appearance with his 2016 breakout single, "Elm Street", produced by Stvii B, which ''

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'' included in the "'Bout to Blow: 10 Dope New Songs You Should Be Hearing Everywhere Soon" list. Following that success, he collaborated with several prominent rappers including Wiz Khalifa,

Sonny Digital Sonny Corey Uwaezuoke (born March 5, 1991), better known by his stage name Sonny Digital, is an American record producer, rapper, and DJ.

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and more. After receiving a co-sign from hip hop producer

Mike Will Made It Michael Len Williams II (born March 23, 1989), known professionally as Mike Will Made It (often stylized as Mike WiLL Made-It) or simply Mike Will, is an American record producer. He is best known for producing trap beats for several Southern hi ...

, rap duo

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brought Wopo out to perform during their set at the Pittsburgh stop of their SremmLife 2 Tour. Wopo was murdered in a

drive-by shooting A drive-by shooting is a type of assault that usually involves the perpetrator(s) firing a weapon from within a motor vehicle and then fleeing. Drive-by shootings allow the perpetrators to quickly strike their targets and flee the scene before l ...

on June 18, 2018.

Career

In January 2015, Wopo began uploading original tracks to his SoundCloud account. Taylor Maglin, the owner of the Pittsburgh-based blog ''Daily Loud'', partnered with him and began to publicize his music. This additional push helped him to accumulate millions of views on his music videos on his YouTube channel. Joining the wave of Wopo's viral success, urban hip hop blog

WorldStarHipHop WorldStarHipHop is a content-aggregating video blog. Zurawik, David.Worldstarhiphop.com makes a name for itself with shocking viral videos". ''The Baltimore Sun''. March 23, 2012. Retrieved on April 22, 2012Alternate link to the same article fr ...

exclusively debuted five of his music videos in 2016. On July 24, 2016, he premiered his debut project, ''Woponese'', on Daily Loud. This 8-track mixtape included the single "Back Door", which features

Sonny Digital Sonny Corey Uwaezuoke (born March 5, 1991), better known by his stage name Sonny Digital, is an American record producer, rapper, and DJ.

. In October 2016, Wopo was featured on Riff Raff's song "Stay Away from You" on his ''Balloween'' mixtape. On November 25, 2016, he released a joint album with his fellow Pittsburgh-based rapper Hardo. This nine-track project featured ShadyHigler,

and

. Before his death, Wopo completed 50 unreleased songs, which would be released posthumously according to Wopo's manager.

Legal issues

On February 7, 2016, Wopo was arrested during a traffic stop in

Washington County, Pennsylvania Washington County is a County (United States), county in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, United States. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the population was 209,349. Its county seat is Washington, Pe ...

. Police arrested Wopo and two others after finding two stamp bags of suspected heroin and a small amount of marijuana. He was arraigned on drug charges and drinking charges and placed in jail with a $25,000 bond. Later, while out, Wopo, landed in jail because of probation violation. Wopo failed to inform officials of his trip to New York State, where he was caught and imprisoned on such charges. While in jail, he wrote an album, ''Back Against the Wall'', which he recorded the first day he got out of jail.

Murder

At 4:22 PM EDT on June 18, 2018, Smart and a male passenger were shot while driving through Pittsburgh's

Hill District The Hill District is a grouping of historically African American neighborhoods in the City of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Beginning in the years leading up to World War I, "the Hill" was the cultural center of black life in the city and a major ce ...

neighborhood. The passenger survived, but Smart, who was shot in the head, died after being rushed to

UPMC Presbyterian UPMC Presbyterian, often referred to locally as Presby, is a 900-bed non-profit research and Teaching hospital, academic hospital located in the Oakland (Pittsburgh), Oakland neighborhood of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, providing Tertiary care, tert ...

at 5:56 PM. He was 21 years old, and left behind three children. As of 2023, no one has been charged for the murder. Smart has been posthumously implicated in numerous gang related crimes. Multiple members of his gang were sentenced to prison in 2021.

Discography

*''Woponese'' (2016) *''Trapnese'' (2016) (with Hardo) *''Jordan Kobe'' (2017) *''Back Against the Wall'' (2017)

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Wopo, Jimmy 1997 births 2018 deaths 2018 murders in the United States Deaths by firearm in Pennsylvania East Coast hip-hop musicians People murdered in Pennsylvania Rappers from Pittsburgh Songwriters from Pennsylvania 21st-century American rappers Bloods American murder victims