Bay Area rapper The Jacka, born Dominic Newton, and later named Shaheed Akbar when he converted to Islam at a young age, was fatally shot in Oakland, CA on February 2nd, 2015.
An unidentified gunman reportedly shot the 37 year-old rapper on 94th Avenue, and MacArthur Boulevard while he was at an evening music session, The Jacka was outside of the studio converted van, while seven or eight people were inside the van.
Reggie Grant, who described himself as The Jacka’s god brother, told NBC Bay Area on Tuesday morning, “He was just making music.”
He added, that from his perspective The Jack could not have been the gunman’s intended target.
“Bullets don’t have no name. I don’t know who did it,” 51-year-old Grant said. “He had problems with nobody. He’d give you his shoes off his feet. He gave jobs to lots of people.”
Oakland police currently have made no arrests, and have no leads in The Jacka’s murder. He is survived by a wife and children.
The Jacka, a Pittsburg, CA native, was an indelible voice in East Bay hip-hop, and got his start in 1999 when he released his first album, C-Bo’s Mob Figaz, with his group Mob Figaz.
He was the label owner of The Artist Records, prior to his untimely death, and had a recent December 2014 release titled, “What Happened to the World.”
The Oakland Police Department and Crime Stoppers are offering up to $20,000 for information leading to the arrest of his killer.
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