Kansas City man making waves in local rap music killed in shooting. He ‘was an inspiration’

Renauld Shelton recalls his last memory of Kansas City rapper Kevion Bifford, who died last month in a shooting at age 37.

Bifford’s career as 2Gunn Kevi had started to soar, netting him a nod as best male rap artist in the Kansas City’s People’s Choice awards.

Shelton was at his uncle’s house a week or so before Bifford’s death, “having a good old time and catching up with him.”

“It was always good time,” Shelton said, reflecting on their times together, like the boat party they both attended celebrating the birthday of rapper FunkMaster Flex and their time in New York as Bifford pursued his music career.

“We just enjoyed ourselves socially. He was up there for a few weeks trying to expand his music prowess far as trying to find a deal and find management that could help get him to that next level,” Shelton said.

Indeed, Bifford’s rap career was starting to reach that next level before his death, providing opportunities to collaborate with significant local artists including Tech N9ne, Studio B, and Suli4Q

Shelton said Bifford was fully dedicated to his music career and entrepreneurship after his incarceration for pleading guilty on federal drug and firearms charges, deciding to leave behind street life to pursue his music full-time. He said, as an artist, Bifford was doing well for himself when tragedy struck — leaving his family, friends, and his devoted fans saddened.

On May 24, Bifford was fatally shot in a car in east Kansas City, where he was found unresponsive by Kansas City police officers who heard gunshots while patrolling. He was later pronounced dead.

Police have not made any arrests in the case, but the case remains active and police are still investigating.

“It’s certainly a tragedy and definitely devastated by what happened,” Shelton said.

Authentic rap artist

Bifford’s rap career started in his aunt’s basement in 2003, where he would rap with his cousin, he previously said in an interview with Voyage LA Magazine.

Bifford told the publication, “I rap I feel like I specialize in the streets the pain and glory and reality of it… I feel like there are a lot of people who can relate to me maybe not on a specific topic but overall, I feel everyone who experienced loss or pain or obstacles or setbacks can relate to my music.”

He didn’t write because he wanted everything to feel and sound organic, he said, but because he wanted his music to be authentic, something he believed his fans and listeners could feel and relate to.

Walter Edwin, the Kansas City rapper known as “The Popper,” said Bifford was not just a typical rapper.

“He was very articulate... it was a huge loss that we had and someone that I definitely would’ve wanted to see make it,” Edwin told The Star.

His raps expressed his life, his struggle, being an influencer in Kansas City, and making it out of where he had been and getting to where he was headed.

“I liked the way he represented Kansas City lyrically, the way he described his neighborhood, the neighborhoods of Kansas City in a raw authentic way, like a front line soldier,” Edwin said.

‘Next guy up to have a great impact on music’

Shelton said he first met Bifford when he was around 15 years old, when Shelton’s uncle brought Bifford over to his father’s house to introduce him to a producer in his neighborhood.

Over the years, Shelton saw him as an ambitious person.

“He was a person trying to leave an old life behind, which he did, and unfortunately, God had a different calling,” he said.

“He was definitely the next guy up to actually have a great impact on music, not just in Kansas City, but on the music industry as a whole,” Shelton said.

Edwin also shared a close bond with Bifford during his teenage years. It was during that time he discovered his talent for rapping. In 2006 and 2007, Bifford contributed to songs on Edwin’s albums. After Bifford’s release from prison, they collaborated on a song titled “My Life.”

Despite only working on that one song together, Edwin recounted Bifford rapping verses from songs that he made back in 1998 and 1999 when he went by the name “Dun-Deala.”

“Sometimes I’d seen he would rap one of my verses from ’98, ’99 the whole verse all the way through, and I’d be like man how is this dude, this dope know my whole verse and so when he would rap my verse, it would like give me like more drive and determination to keep going cause I look at him, like I’m just happy he is somebody who can carry the torch to,” he said.

Edwin expressed his admiration for Bifford’s rap skills, saying that knowing Bifford was rapping his verses both inspired and surprised him.

“I want him to be remembered as the man he is, the great father I hear that he is, and as a face of Kansas City, as a trendsetter and solid individual who repped Kansas City 8-1-6 to the fullest,” Edwin said.

“He definitely was an inspiration that folks can turn they life around and actually live well in doing it,” Shelton said. “He certainly inspired me to go harder and pursue my dreams as well.”

Bifford’s funeral services were held Friday. He is survived by his parents, six siblings, three children, and his partner, according to his obituary.

Kansas City police have asked anyone with information about the shooting to call the KCPD Homicide Unit or TIPS Hotline.

This story was originally published June 10, 2024 at 12:30 PM.