Young Greatness

Jones was born on September 19, 1984, in New Orleans. He moved to Houston after Hurricane Katrina.^[4] He grew up listening to Juvenile, Jay-Z and The Notorious B.I.G.^[5]

Taking the stage name Young Greatness, he began attracting notice from Houston rappers such as Bun B and Mike Jones, resulting in a deal with the record label Quality Control Music and Motown in 2015.^[5] In November 2015, he released the single "Moolah", which peaked at number 85 on the US Billboard Hot 100.^[3] In March 2016, Rolling Stone included Greatness in their list of "10 New Artists You Need to Know".^[6] In July 2016, Greatness performed "Moolah" on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert.^[7]

On October 29, 2018, Jones was fatally shot in the back while in the parking lot of a Waffle House on Elysian Fields Avenue in New Orleans.^[8][9] He was 34 years old.^[8] Two men, Donald Reaux and Donny Maxwell, and a juvenile were indicted for Jones' murder in March 2019.^[10] Reaux, who was believed to be the main orchestrator of the attack and the one who killed Jones, was a friend of Jones who prosecution alleged attempted to steal marijuana from him.^[9][10] Reaux also was believed to have armed his two accomplices, who each received less severe armed robbery-related criminal charges.^[10][9] Wix would receive a prison sentence of 20 years after pleading guilty to numerous armed robbery charges, while Maxwell would receive a 19 year prison sentence after pleading guilty to similar charges in December 2019.^[9] In January 2023, Reaux would be convicted by a jury of second degree murder and sentenced to life in prison.^[9]

• List of murdered hip hop musicians