MoneySign Suede, an up-and-coming rapper from Los Angeles, was stabbed to death Tuesday night (April 25) in a California jail.
Born Jaime Brugada Valdez, 22, the rapper was found unresponsive at the Correctional Training Center (CTF) in Soledad, Calif., authorities said.
His death is being investigated as a homicide, according to a press release from the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation.
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Prison staff began searching for the “Back to the Bag” artist around 9:55 p.m. because he was not in his cell during a regular count, authorities said. During a search of the facility, he was found unconscious in another part of the prison with injuries consistent with homicide.
Correctional officers began rescue measures, but without success. Valdez was transported to an on-site medical facility for treatment, where he was pronounced dead at 10:00 p.m.
His lawyer, Nicholas Rosenberg, told the Los Angeles Times it was not the first time that his client had been assaulted in prison.
Tuesday night’s attack happened in the shower, according to the lawyer. “They said it was a stab in the neck,” Rosenberg said.
Valdez was sent to prison after being sentenced in Riverside County to two years and eight months in December 2022, for possession of a firearm by a felon or drug addict. He was a second attacker after a previous gun conviction, the corrections department said.
It is not known when he was to be released.
The Correctional Training Center is located in Monterey County, south of San Jose. The prison houses more than 4,000 minimum- and medium-security male inmates, according to its website.
MoneySign Suede was often compared to Kodak Black and its star was on the rise.
The Mexican-American rapper was originally from Huntington Park, near downtown Los Angeles.
In 2020 he was signed to Atlantic Records. At the time, the label uploaded a video to Twitter of the rapper performing “Back to the Bag.” The caption read, “Welcome to the Atlantic Records @moneysignsuede family!”
Welcome to the Atlantic Records family @moneysignsuede! This radiator #BackToTheBag is out now?
LSTN: https://t.co/qlehsepYJN
Watch: https://t.co/ZkdRsIWntU pic.twitter.com/5IgjwocXtE—Atlantic Records (@AtlanticRecords) September 18, 2020
Most recently he was affiliated with Parkside Records in Las Vegas. The label did not immediately respond to Urban Hollywood 411request for comment on the rapper’s death.
He released his latest album Baby at the edge of the park in September 2022.
As news of MoneySign Suede’s death spread, tributes poured in on social media.
Rapper Biz Markie tweeted a photo of Suede and included the caption: “A truly inspirational story turned tragic. $uede was an HS high school dropout raised in poverty in Huntington Park, a popular phenom and a hero for West Coast Latino kids – who couldn’t escape prison traps, murdered before he had the chance to do it fully.
Fans remembered MoneySign Sweden on its Instagram page.
“Rest in Peace Sweden. You were taken far too soon. I can’t believe this is real,” one person wrote.
“Vive Suede,” another person shared.
“RIP. You never know when it’s your time so live life everyday,” someone else shared.
“Thank you for showing me that a Mexican can be successful in the music industry,” another person wrote.
The image above is from the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation
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