Dallas rapper Yella Beezy was arrested this week and is accused of charged with hiring a hitman to kill fellow rapper Melvin Nobles, known as MO3, in 2020.
As of Friday, Beezy, birth name Markies Deandre Conway, was being held on $2 million bond in the Dallas County jail. The accused gunman who police say Conway hired in the shooting, Kewon Dontrell White, was indicted on a murder charge in Nobles’ death in 2021 and in 2022, he was sentenced to nine years in federal prison on a gun charge.
Here’s what to know about Conway, the crime he is accused of committing and the beef between him and Nobles.
Who is Yella Beezy?
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Dallas rapper Yella Beezy was born Markies Deandre Conway and grew up in Dallas’ Oak Cliff area. The 33-year-old began his music career by releasing his own mixtapes on Soundcloud.
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His breakout moment came with the 2017 mixtape Lite Work, Vol. 2, which included the hit song “That’s On Me”. The track climbed to No. 25 on Billboard’s Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart.
In 2018, a remix helped spread his name like wildfire. It featured notable rappers 2 Chainz, T.I., Boosie Badazz, Rich the Kid, Jeezy and Trapboy Freddie. Since then, Conway has collaborated with top names in hip-hop such as Chris Brown and Young Thug and opened for Beyoncé and Jay-Z.
“You can’t ever get too comfortable because that’s when stuff starts declining,” he told The Dallas Morning News at the time.” You get full of yourself. You think you’re it. The next person trying to get your position. You don’t think they gonna take it? You gotta grind, all day. Nonstop.”
Conway has had previous run-ins with the law. He was shot in 2018 in Lewisville while driving on State Highway 121. In February 2021, Conway was arrested and faced a charge of unlawful firearm possession in Dallas County. Later that year, he was arrested again and faced charges in Collin County of sexual assault and child endangerment.
Related:Dallas rapper Yella Beezy charged with ordering the killing of rapper MO3 in 2020
Collin County court records show the case is closed, with Conway never being convicted on the charges. Dallas County court records show the firearm possession charge was later dismissed.
Conway was also named in a lawsuit filed in Harris County in July, which alleged Chris Brown and members of the R&B singer’s entourage assaulted four men after a concert at Dickie’s Arena in Fort Worth. A lawyer for Conway told The News at the time of the suit that Conway never had contact with the four plaintiffs.
That lawsuit was still pending as of Friday, according to Harris County court records.
Lawyers for Conway could not be reached Friday.
Related:Chris Brown, rapper Yella Beezy sued for alleged beating of concertgoers in Fort Worth
Who was MO3?
Melvin Noble, also known as MO3, grew up in North Dallas. He attended Berkner High School in Richardson.
He released his debut mixtape, Shottaz, in 2014. Two years later, he would release Shottaz Reloaded, which caught the attention of notable Baton Rouge rapper Boosie Badazz.
Noble would later have a joint album with Boosie in 2020 featuring a remix of the hit single “Everybody”, which peaked at No. 136 on the U.S. Billboard 200.
According to his obituary, Noble knew he had made it when he was filming the music video for “Broken Love” featuring Louisiana rapper Kevin Gates. The song trended at No. 8 on the Top 10 chart shortly after it was released.
“He traveled all over the world, blessed his fans, touched lives, inspired kids, made a difference, and made people just want to be better, all through his music,” his obituary said.
Noble, 28 years old when he was killed in 2020, is survived by two daughters Malaysia and Malia Noble, and son Tre’Monye Noble.
History of the Yella Beezy and MO3 beef
The feud between the Dallas rappers is part of a long-standing rivalry within the Dallas rap scene. Both rappers were rising stars from Dallas and often competed for recognition from the same audience.
Yella Beezy and MO3 exchanged diss tracks and insults on social media over the years, although they denied having any issues with one another.
In a 2019 interview with VladTV, Noble addressed the rumors about his feud with Conway, stating, “It was nothing.”
In a 2024 interview with Can I Vent? Conway was asked why he had not acknowledged the late MO3’s death. Conway replied, “What was the point?”
Shooting death of MO3
Around noon Nov. 11, 2020, Nobles and another car were traveling north on Interstate 35E near the Dallas Zoo when both cars stopped near Clarendon Drive. The driver of the other car, armed with a rifle, got out of his vehicle and approached Nobles’ vehicle.
Nobles left his car and began running away on the highway as the gunman opened fire, striking Nobles and another driver. While the other driver was not seriously injured, Nobles later died at the hospital.
Police at the time called the midday shooting “brazen,” noting that many civilians could have been in the line of fire.
In February 2021, Kewon Dontrell White, 26, was indicted on a murder charge in Nobles’ death. As of Friday, that charge is still pending. White’s attorney did not immediately respond to a request for comment Friday.
In April 2021, a second man, Devin Maurice Brown, 32, was also indicted on a murder charge in Nobles’ death. As of Friday, that charge is still pending, and has not yet been set for trial.
Sherrod Edwards, Brown’s attorney, said he is looking forward to Brown’s day in court.
“We are hoping to clear Mr. Brown’s name,” Edwards said.
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