Brax death: Rapper and influencer dies aged 21
News was confirmed in a post by the artist’s mother
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Brax, a rapper and social media influencer, has died aged 21.
The news was confirmed in an Instagram post by her mother, Letricia Loftin – a director and radio host – late on Thursday 5 November. The cause of her death has not yet been disclosed.
Brax, born Braxton Baker, was apparently working on two albums and three novels at the time of her death.
According to Essence, which first reported Brax’s death, she was born in Richmond, Virginia.
“At the time of her ascendance she laid in sacred form,” Loftin wrote. “There were no scratches there were no bruises, her internal and external being was completely pure. It was a spiritual release. God retrieved the angel He loaned us.”
Brax, who achieved popularity upon the release of her 2017 mixtape VERSE(atility) – a project that can no longer be found on Spotify or other streaming services – was also pursuing careers in singing and choreography at the time of her death.
The music video for Brax’s early track “Lil b****”, which she directed and choreographed, was still available on her YouTube channel at the time of writing.
In a 2018 interview with Svage magazine, she spoke about what she wanted to achieve as an artist, commenting: “My role is to create art straight from my heart. For I know that art will be pure, poetic, powerful, and healing.”
“All I want to do is help the world heal,” she added. “That’s when things will begin to shift.”
Her mother wrote that she was also interested in fashion that incorporated the work of “black queer revolutionary womxn”.
“Braxton knew that God was working through her, she had ‘vessel’ and ‘gifted’ permanently placed on her body,” she wrote. “She knew that her brilliance and art would be shared with the world in God’s timing. This is just the beginning; our whole beings are dedicated to sharing her sacred art with the world.”
Makeup artist Scott Osbourne Jr paid tribute in an Instagram post: “You were such an amazing light, Man the work you created, and the work we created together will live on forever!,” his post said.
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