Florida rapper SpotemGottem is reportedly in critical condition after being shot five times in Miami overnight Friday, according to multiple news reports.
The 19-year-old rapper and songwriter, whose real name is Nehemiah Lamar Harden, “was the victim of a drive-by shooting this morning, leaving the studio,” according to a statement by Raven Liberty, the rapper’s lawyer, Complex reported.
TMZ reported that the shooting was the result of a road rage incident.
The shooting happened about 3 a.m. on the southbound stretch of Interstate 95, according to TMZ, citing the Florida Highway Patrol.
At least 22 shots were fired at the driver’s side of Harden’s vehicle, which was being driven by an associate who was also hit in the hip, TMZ reported. SpotemGottem was wounded in both legs, and both men were taken to a nearby hospital.
The shooter was not identified and remains at large, police said.
SpotemGottem, who is from Jacksonville, made waves last year with the release of the hit single “Beat Box,” which peaked at number 12 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart after first going viral on TikTok.
The artist was recently signed to three major labels, including Geffen Records, Interscope Records and Rebel Music, according to reports.
He is due to turn 20 years old on Oct. 19.
The rapper has encountered legal troubles for several recent incidents.
Detectives at the Dallas Police Department were seeking to question the rapper about the unsolved killing of a man named Reginald Agnew Jr., who was shot to death in a parking lot after a party at Club Tropics in Dallas in September 2020, according to reports by The Sun and Allhiphop.com.
But Liberty vehemently denied that Harden had anything to do with the crime and filed a lawsuit against the police department citing “reckless, false statements,” according to a previous report by Complex.
U.S. Marshals in Florida arrested Harden in July after the rapper was involved in an altercation at a parking garage where he allegedly pointed a rifle at a parking attendant, according to NBC Miami. Authorities said they later took him into custody at a hotel in Aventura, where they said he was in possession of an AK-47.
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