August 26, 2024
Brandon Buckingham/YouTube
West Philly rapper YBC Dul was fatally shot on Aug. 23. The 25-year-old was interviewed by YouTuber Brandon Buckingham in a video posted online the day before. The video about gang violence in Philadelphia has been viewed more than 1 million times.
YBC Dul, a West Philly rapper who was fatally shot in Olney on Friday, bragged about his violent reputation and flaunted guns in a video that was posted on a popular YouTube channel the day before he was killed. Police said Monday they are aware of the video, and homicide investigators are looking into whether the timing of its release is connected to the shooting.
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Abdul Vicks, 25, was shot multiple times while driving on the 5500 block of North Sixth Street around 3:30 p.m. Friday. He died at Einstein Medical Center a short time later, police said.
Vicks had been considered the ringleader of the Young Bag Chasers (YBC) rap crew, whose members are linked to a long trail of deadly shootings and arrests in recent years. YBC Dul's fans gave him the nickname Mr. Disrespectful because of his brazen lyrics about rival rappers in the city — including those YBC took credit for killing — and for digging up soil at the grave site of an enemy in one of his music videos. He garnered a large following on YouTube and on music streaming platforms like Spotify, where he had racked up nearly 30,000 monthly listeners.
On Thursday, YouTube personality Brandon Buckingham had posted a roughly 31-minute video in which he interviewed Vicks and his friends in Mantua, Germantown and other Philadelphia neighborhoods. Vicks, who spent part of his childhood in North Philly, talked about how YBC's battles with other gangs in the city had "tortured" communities caught up in a drill rap scene that celebrates acts of vengeance.
(NOTE: The embedded video contains explicit language and references to violence).
"I go overboard. I disrespect people — like, badly," Vicks said in a street interview with Buckingham, a former school teacher who quit his job to become a content creator.
By Monday afternoon, the video had been viewed more than 1 million times. It's not known how recently the interview took place. Buckingham, who could not immediately be reached for comment, has more than 762,000 subscribers on YouTube. He amassed his following by traveling around the United States with a small film crew, often venturing into dangerous areas to gather footage. His videos, including one with Kensington rapper Skrilla that has more than 2 million views, juggle shock value with probing questions about the dicey lifestyles Buckingham covers.
Buckingham even rapped and appeared with YBC Dul in a music video for the song "McBuckingham," which was posted on YBC Dul's YouTube channel on Aug. 18. The two carried guns and wore clown costumes in the video.
Buckingham acknowledged Vicks' death on X, formerly Twitter, on Friday afternoon. He said the song they made together was "about the gang war" in West Philly.
Damn rest in peace Ybcdul. Just found out he was killed a few hours ago. https://t.co/jkhU8UstGK
— brandon buckingham (@Buckingham_Show) August 23, 2024
"Does the prospect of possibly getting shot just walking around make you nervous at all?" Buckingham asked Vicks during the street interview, which appeared to take place during the same visit when the music video was made.
"I ain't gonna' lie, bro. You should be nervous, though, 'cause walking with me a bad jawn," Vicks answered.
Vicks told Buckingham that the violence linked to him and his opponents had emptied the neighborhood streets around them.
"We tortured the whole hood," Vicks said. "Nobody don't come outside around here. We walking through blocks, you don't see nobody. This s*** is a ghost town."
At one point in the video, after nightfall, Buckingham said he heard dozens of gunshots ring out nearby.
"It ain't no block you could go on down here and people outside," Vicks repeated. "We f***** the blocks up."
YBC has long been on the radar of Philadelphia police and the district attorney's office. Earlier this month, Philadelphia District Attorney Larry Krasner announced the conviction of YBC rapper Arshad Curry, who killed three teenagers and injured two other people in July 2021 near 56th and Vine streets, prosecutors said. Curry also opened fired at two Philadelphia police officers but did not strike them. He was sentenced to up to 85 years in state prison, becoming the fifth member of YBC to be convicted of crimes committed in Philly.
Another YBC rapper, Mere Pablo, whose real name is Quamere Hall, was arrested and charged with murder earlier this month for fatally shooting a 34-year-old man last year. The 22-year-old was taken into custody while attending a hearing for Curry at the Criminal Justice Center.
“YBC, sometimes known as the Young Bag Chasers, has a new name,” Krasner said at a news conference announcing Curry's conviction. “I didn’t invent it. Somebody else did. The new name is You Been Charged, and the newer name is You Been Convicted.”
The DA's office did not immediately respond to a request for comment about Buckingham's videos featuring Vicks. Krasner has been outspoken in recent years about YBC and various other gangs in the city, urging young people to sever their ties with those groups.
On Monday afternoon, the Inquirer reported that police had recovered a vehicle that might be linked to Vicks' shooting. The car was found burning in a lot on the 6900 block of North 15th Street, Philadelphia Police Deputy Commissioner Frank Vanore said. Ballistics evidence reportedly has been recovered from the car, but no arrests have been made at this time. In an email, a police spokesperson confirmed the vehicle was recovered a short time after Vicks was shot, but no direct connection has been established at this time.
During Buckingham's interview with Vicks, the two talked about the enduring influence of slain Philadelphia rapper PnB Rock, who was fatally shot in Los Angeles in September 2022. PnB Rock grew up in Germantown around the intersection of Pastorius and Baynton streets, territory now claimed by YBC. PnB Rock spent much of his life embroiled in gang warfare before he emerged as a star rapper and scored features with artists like Ed Sheeran at his peak of popularity in 2019.
Vicks told Buckingham he hoped his own growing profile as a rapper would give him similar opportunities to change his life and improve the fortunes of those around him.
"I'm going to try to build shelters. I'm going to give back," Vicks said. "I'm going to give back to the hood, bro."
"What's the game plan?" Buckingham countered. "Are you going to f*** it up and then make it better?"
"I mean, bro, that wasn't the game plan to f*** it up," Vicks said. "We f***** it up already. The goal (was) to get rich, but some s*** came in the midst of getting rich."
