Canadian rapper Smoke Dawg shot dead at 21

Canadian rapper Smoke Dawg has been shot dead here in an incident which left another man and a woman injured. Smoke was 21.

"Multiple shots" were fired in the Entertainment District of the city on Saturday evening, police said, reports independent.co.uk.

One of the two male victims succumbed to his injuries, the Toronto Police Operations Centre said on Twitter. Two suspects may have fled in a black SUV or a white car, it added.

Mustafa the Poet, a Canadian spoken word artist, announced the news of his friend's death on Twitter. He wrote: "Smokey is gone, may our prayers follow him to heaven."

Smoke Dawg's death comes just weeks after XXXTentacion, a US rapper, was shot dead in Florida.

As a tribute to Smoke Dawg, Toronto-based rapper Drake shared a message along with an image on Instagram.

"All these gifts and blessed souls and inner lights being extinguished lately is devastating. I wish peace would wash over our city. So much talent and so many stories we never get to see play out. Rest up Smoke," he wrote.

Smoke Dawg, of Trinidadian, Jamaican and Somalian heritage, was part of an up and coming group of rappers called Halal Gang.

He gained success with hit song "Still" three years ago and later collaborated with American hip hop artiste French Montana and the UK's Skepta.

Last year, he started gaining international attention after supporting Drake on his Boy Meets World European tour.

--IANS

rb/mr