Rapper Silentó Is Heading to Prison for 30 Years — That'll Definitely Affect His Net Worth

Life can change on a dime, and for rapper Silentó, it changed back in January 2021 when he fatally shot his own cousin. According to the Associated Press, the murder was not the first time he had run-ins with the law. He was previously arrested in August 2020 on a domestic violence charge and again in October 2020 for speeding. Silentó, whose real name is Ricky Lamar Hawk, was driving 143 miles per hour. He will now be spending 30 years in prison.

Life hasn't been easy for the 27-year-old who rose to fame in 2015 with his song "Watch Me (Whip/Nae Nae)." It became a viral sensation and launched a dance craze. You couldn't go anywhere without hearing that song. Silentó was also struggling with depression. Coming into money at such a young age was probably a double-edged sword that was a temporary fix for his mental health issues. Here's what we know about his net worth.

It's been a decade since Silentó's song took the world by storm, and though he has released four studio albums, his net worth is only $500,000, per Celebrity Net Worth. After releasing "Watch Me (Whip/Nae Nae)" in 2015 on SoundCloud, the then-17-year-old hip hop artist watched it get hundreds of millions of views thanks to Vine and YouTube.

The young rapper quickly partnered with DanceOn, a company devoted to finding and promoting the best dancers in the world. In May 2015, mere months after he dropped his hit song, Silentó was signing with Capitol Records, per Billboard. His song peaked at No. 3 on the Billboard Hot 100 and stayed on the chart for 53 weeks.

With the success of his single came invitations to events like the BET Awards, the Circle City Classic, the 2016 Kids' Choice Awards, and Dick Clark's New Year's Rockin' Eve that same year. In 2016 Silentó released a collaboration with Korean singer Punch that earned them the World Collaboration Award at the 26th Seoul Music Awards in January 2017. Between 2018 and 2021, Silentó released four albums, including one from jail.

It's unclear if the rapper will be continuing with his music career while he spends three decades behind bars. The Associated Press also reported that while appearing on The Doctors in 2019, Silentó said he had been fighting demons his whole life. "Depression doesn’t leave you when you become famous, it just adds more pressure," he said. "And while everybody’s looking at you, they’re also judging you.” Silentó also said he wasn't sure he could ever really be happy.