Days after Los Angeles rapper Kevin “Flipside” White was gunned down in the Watts neighborhood of Los Angeles, a suspect has been arrested in the September 23 death of the 44-year-old rapper.

According to the Los Angeles Times, the shooting is believed to be gang related and the man arrested for the shooting, 26-year-old Kevin Phillips (a.k.a. Chris Smith), was subsequently charged with two counts of murder with gang allegations.

Although a lone suspect is in custody, Los Angeles police believe numerous individuals were involved in the shooting death of both Flipside and Markice Delshawn Brider. Brider was shot and killed 10 minutes after Flipside and a female companion were fired at by a group of men traveling in a minivan.

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As a noted rap fixture in the Watts community, Flipside played a vital role in a number of projects as a member of O.F.T.B. (Operation From The Bottom).

In the 90s, O.F.T.B. signed with the Suge Knight-led Death Row Records and would later appear on a non-album version of Tupac’s “Better Dayz,” a record later featured on the late rapper’s posthumous record of the same name.

“[O.F.T.B.] was one of the first groups out of L.A. that was on [TV channel] The Box with a hot record,” said Flipside’s former labelmate Big Wy, while speaking with LA Weekly. “People don’t know that that [‘Better Dayz’] was originally an O.F.T.B. record, featuring Tupac.”

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The Watts rapper also had ties with Top Dawg Entertainment CEO Anthony “Top Dawg” Tiffith, who he recently traveled with on a trip to New York. Top Dawg expressed his condolences via Twitter shortly after news of Flipside’s death was made public.

At press time, other individuals potentially involved in the murder of both Flipside and Brider have yet to be identified.

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