Drill Rapper Kay Flock Receives 30-Year Sentence for Shootings in the Bronx

The drill rapper Kay Flock, whose legal name is Kevin Perez, began his career in 2020 and gained popularity by releasing singles like "Shake It." The 22-year-old rapper also led the "Sev Side/DOA" gang in his neighborhood, the Bronx.

He was named Billboard Magazine's R&B/Hip-Hop rookie of the Month in November 2021, after the release of his first album, "The D.O.A. Tape."

However, Kay Flock's music career has been cut short due to shootings he conducted over an 18-month period.

The judge who sentenced Kay Flock, Lewis J. Liman, said that Perez glorified violence and sent the wrong message to "young peers" through his actions and his music. "You taunted, you celebrated, and you helped create a cycle of violence," the judge stated, according to ABC News.

Kay Flock said that everyone deserves a second chance and that he didn't know better at the time of the shootings. "What I was at 18 is not what I am today," he said, adding, "I was just a kid. Didn’t really know better."

The judge noted that Perez is a "man of promise," but that a long prison sentence was necessary for the four separate shootings that injured people. The judge also said that Perez didn't show concern for the victims or remorse for his actions.

Kay Flock bragged on social media about being exonerated on the "top count" and wrote "KILL ALL RATS" on Instagram after gang members testified against him.

Prosecutors argued that Perez used music promoting gang violence to become rich and famous, saying, "He was very good at celebrating his violence and getting under the skin of his rivals," per ABC News.

"DOA" is short for "dumping on anything," or shooting anything. It also stands for "dead on arrival." The Sev Side/DOA gang is based on East 187th Street in the Bronx.

A press release from the U.S. Attorney's Office in the Southern District of New York said that Perez led the gang since at least 2020, and that the gang supported itself primarily through bank and wire fraud, which then funded Perez's music career.

They wrote that members of Sev Side/DOA committed violence against rivals to "protect their territory, enhance the reputation and wealth of Sev Side/DOA, and increase their status within the gang."

Perez used his songs and status as a "drill rap" artist to celebrate Sev Side/DOA's crimes, glorify violence, and taunt rival gang members who had been murdered, they wrote.

In the same press release, U.S. Attorney Jay Clayton said, "Perez and his gang members carried out a string of shootings that struck both rival gang members and innocent bystanders. Perez also used his platform as a prominent rapper to celebrate his violence: threatening his rivals, bragging about his shootings, and taunting his victims."

Kay Flock was also convicted on charges of racketeering, conspiracy, and attempted murder in March.