Rest In Peace Young Curt, a pillar in the Bay Area rap scene… Sending our condolences to his loved ones 🖤🙏 pic.twitter.com/sN6sN8f2dM
— EMPIRE (@EMPIRE) June 29, 2020
A prominent Bay Area rap artist died early Monday after his vehicle rolled over on a highway in east Contra Costa County, authorities said.
The man — 27-year-old Curtis Denton, of Antioch, also known by the recording name “Young Curt” — was speeding on Byron Highway south of Brentwood when he apparently lost control of his car on a bend, according to California Highway Patrol.
The car hit an embankment and flipped multiple times. Denton, who officers believed was not wearing his seat belt, was thrown through the sunroof and onto the dirt shoulder, CHP said in a news release.
When CHP officers arrived on the scene just after 2 a.m., they found the 2019 Dodge Charger mangled and flipped on its roof and Denton on the side of the road, suffering serious injuries after being ejected from the vehicle. Officers called in medical support from East Contra Costa Fire, which took Denton to a hospital via ambulance.
He was pronounced dead upon arrival at the hospital.
Numerous social media posts identified Denton as Young Curt. He had released new music this year, and his 2009 song “No B—-” had recently regained popularity on the viral video-sharing app Tik Tok.
On an episode of the New York Times podcast “Popcast,” Denton is credited with popularizing a West Coast rap style that led to a top-10 hit, “Thotiana” by the Los Angeles rapper Blueface.
“This is a sound that, to me, as soon as I heard Blueface, I was just like, ‘Oh it’s just another LA rapper copying the Bay sound,'” said Ben Dandridge-Lemco, a senior editor at music magazine The Fader. “… I’m going to say another name that I’m positive hasn’t been said on a podcast: Young Curt. I guess it was during the hyphy movement and during the post-hyphy movement. He was putting all his music on MySpace. That’s where this whole sound comes from.”
As news spread, Denton received an outpouring of condolences on social media.
https://twitter.com/Kehlani/status/1277670414756376577
Still one of the coldest diss tracks ever. Simpler times RIP Young Curt 🙏🏽 pic.twitter.com/AWBJUQFRve
— Willie Beamen (@ReeseInaCut) June 29, 2020
RIP YOUNG CURT ! A Bay Area Pioneer who never got his credit . He influenced slang & production from the bay all the way down to LA artists who got on the wave
— GUAP (@guapdad4000) June 29, 2020
Rest In Peace to Young Curt a Bay Area legend 🙏🏾
— ill yaya (@kamaiyah) June 29, 2020
Damn Young Curt died damn
— Cj Anderson (@cjandersonb22) June 29, 2020
The crash remains under investigation and anyone who witnessed it or the events leading up to it is being asked to contact the Contra Costa CHP in Martinez at 925-646-4980.
