The funeral for Carlos Walker, a 40-year-old Atlanta rapper known as Shawty Lo, will be held at the same church that a few years ago hosted the funeral for Kriss Kross member Chris Kelly.
UPDATE: Hundreds turn out for Shawty Lo's funeral; it lasts more than three hours
Walker died in a car accident on Wednesday after his 2016 Audi crashed through a guardrail on a ramp to Cascade Road off I-285. He died of “blunt force injury to the head,” the Fulton County Medical Examiner’s office said Thursday. He is survived by 11 children.
Johnnie Cabbell, Walker’s manager, said the funeral is planned for noon Oct. 1 at Jackson Memorial Baptist Church, 534 Fairburn Road N.W. Like Kelly's service was, the memorial for Walker will be open to the public.
The AJC attended Kelly's funeral. The church was filled to capacity for the touching service. The beautiful music, powerful eulogies and bountiful sprays of flowers all paid tribute to a talented artist who, like Walker, was gone too soon.
So So Def label founder Jermaine Dupri — who famously discovered Kelly and Smith at Greenbriar Mall when the friends were preteens — rapper Da Brat and Tameka “Tiny” Cottle were among the mourners in attendance at Kelly's service. Dupri attended the services wearing his jeans backward, a tribute to the group’s unique style of fashion.
Greg Street, a veteran night jock at V-103, recalled Shawty Lo playing him a bit of “Dey Know” before it was even finished. “That track is incredible,” he said. He called Walker’s 2008 solo album “Units in the City” “timeless” with classic street cuts.
To him, Walker was a “great person, always the same guy. Success never changed him.”
Michael Render, who goes by Killer Mike, described him as a generous man who helped others: "He is a treasure gone too soon.”
