Tooka’s Mother Calls Out Rappers Who Continue to Diss Her Late Son

The mother of a slain Chicago teen is calling out rappers who continue to reference her son.

In 2011, 15-year-old Shondale “Tooka” Gregory was fatally shot while waiting at a Chicago bus stop. The teen was a suspected member of the Gangster Disciples—a rival street gang to Chief Keef’s alleged faction, the Black Disciples. Though authorities have never confirmed an exact motive, it’s believed that the attack on Tooka was retaliation over the murder of a BD associate. Since then, a number of rappers have continued to name-drop Tooka in their music, seemingly mocking his death with phrases like, “smoking Tooka.”

“My son had nothing to do with nothing in this rap industry. He didn’t even know how to beatbox, let alone bust a lyric for a rap,” Tooka’s mother, Dominique Boyd, told Say Cheese. “For him to be disrespected and [mocked for] his death? They’re the ones—my son was not about that lifestyle. They’re the ones who are making him famous and blowing him up like this, ’cause they can’t stop saying his fuckin’ name … You don’t even know my son.”

Keef first used “Tooka” in tracks like “3Hunna” and “John Madden.” Artists like Lil Durk and King Von would follow suit, before other non-Chicago MCs began using the name on their own cuts, as many believed “Tooka” was slang for marijuana.