OG Maco, best known for the 2014 hit “U Guessed It,” is recovering in hospital after a suspected suicide attempt.
TMZ reports that the Atlanta-born rapper was hospitalized on Thursday morning (December 12) with a gunshot wound to the head.
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Police reportedly responded to a 911 call in the Los Angeles area at 10 a.m. after a neighbor heard a gun being fired inside a home.
Maco (real name Benedict Ihesiba Jr.) was found unresponsive and rushed to a nearby hospital where he was immediately taken into surgery. A weapon was also discovered at the scene.
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It’s unclear what led to the shooting but it’s believed that it was a suicide attempt.
Maco’s manager, Poppa Percccc, confirmed to TMZ that the rapper is still alive but “needs urgent prayers from all his friends, fans, supporters and associates.”
OG Maco, who is 32, rose to fame in the mid 2010s with the aforementioned “U Guessed It,” which cracked the Billboard Hot 100 and spawned a remix featuring 2 Chainz.
The Georgia native was part of the first wave of artists signed to Quality Control Music — the powerhouse label behind Lil Baby, Migos and Lil Yachty, among others — and was named in XXL‘s 2015 Freshman class alongside the likes of Vince Staples, Fetty Wap and DeJ Loaf.
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Despite releasing countless EPs and mixtapes, as well as the sole album The God of Rage, Maco has failed to replicate the success of “U Guessed It.”
He has also suffered various health issues in recent years, including surviving a near-fatal car crash in 2016 that left him with multiple skull fractures, a cracked vertebrae, a broken orbital and heart palpitations.
The rapper also underwent surgery to fix his right eye which was injured during the accident.
Three years later, Maco was diagnosed with the flesh-eating disease necrotizing fasciitis, which left much of the skin on his face disfigured.
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In a since-deleted Instagram post, he gave fans a look at his condition and revealed that it had led him to depression and suicidal thoughts.
“I’ve been going through this alone 90% of the time, without the support of the person I love, without most of my ‘friends,’ without anything but my own strength and God,” he said.
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He added: “I was scared, I didn’t know what was going to happen, I didn’t know if I was going to lose my entire face… I almost did. My friend told me the other day that maybe I should share what I’ve been going through instead of beating myself down for feeling how I felt about it, which I wanted to die a bunch of days.”
Anyone struggling with suicidal thoughts or their mental health is encouraged to call the toll-free 24-hour Suicide and Crisis Lifeline by dialing 988.
