Shawty Lo, the rapper best known for his work with the group D4L, has passed away.
He was just 40 years old.
Insiders say the emcee, real name Carlos Walker, was driving home from an Atlanta nightclub early Wednesday morning when he was struck by another vehicle and killed.
The driver reportedly sped from the scene and is currently wanted by police.
Fellow rapper Headkrack confirmed the news of Walker’s passing this morning, with a tweet reading:
"With deep regret I have to report this morning that #ShawtyLo has been killed in a hit and run accident. More details to follow."
Several media outlets have since confirmed that Walker wss killed in a hit-and-run accident on Georgia’s I-285 freeway at around 2:20 on Wednesday morning.
D4L’s singles “Betcha Can’t Do It Like Me” and “Laffy Taffy” helped popularize the snap subgenre, with the latter track reaching #1 on Billboard’s Hot 100 in 2006.
Snap music reached its peak with the release of Soulja Boy’s "Crank That (Soulja Boy)" the following year.
Walker also released several successful solo projects, including the 2007 single "Dey Know" which reached number 8 on the Billboard Hip-Hop/R&B charts.
Largely on the strength of the "Dey Know" and the multiple remixes it inspired, Walker’s debut LP became one of the top-selling rap albums the following year.
Walker’s success was such that he attracted both positive and negative attention from A-list rappers.
Over the course of his prolific career, the rapper collaborated with the likes Ludacris on Lil Wayne.
He also befriended 50 Cent, with whom he reached a $10 million deal to start his own record label under the umbrella of 50’s G-Unit imprint in 2003.
But while he was beloved by most of his colleagues in the world of southern hip-hop, it’s impossible to discuss Walker’s career without mentioning his highly-publicized feud with T.I.
The beef spawned several popular diss tracks, with Walker firing the final blow with "Roll the Dice" in 2008.
The rappers buried the hatchet and appeared on stage together the following year.
Walker is also known for siring 11 children with 10 different women.
In 2013, he was to star in an Oxygen network reality series about his unusual family life called All My Babies’ Mamas, but the project fell through, in part due to its controversial premise.
Tributes from fans and colleagues began flooding social media within minutes of the rapper’s death going public, and the hashtag #RIPShawtyLo is currently a worldwide trending topic on Twitter.
Atlanta police have asked for the public’s help in locating the driver responsible for Walker’s death.